


Batman Makes It Look Easy

by Ilovesocks_24



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, And they have crushes on each other, Derek and Isaac are bros because I love them together, Derek and Stiles also work in the same office, Derek and Stiles are Superheroes, M/M, Meanwhile Deucalion is not a very nice guy, Not for Scott and Isaac though, They already love each other so much it hurts, Which makes for awkward love situations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-05-23
Packaged: 2018-01-08 22:30:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 50,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilovesocks_24/pseuds/Ilovesocks_24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>All of the big time superheroes like Superman and Captain America make everything look so </em>easy. <em>They manage to have regular jobs, save their cities </em>and <em> have time to maintain stable relationships. Derek wishes his life was that simple. He saves his city and works a regular job but he's pretty sure that Iron Man never hit on Batman, so why does Red Spark keep hitting on him? </em></p><p>Or the one where Derek and Stiles are both secret superheroes, but are too oblivious to realize that they're in love. Meanwhile there's a power draining supervillain on the loose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As always, apocryphal is my beta. And as always, apocryphal is the best.

“Black Wolf. Fancy meeting you here on this lovely Sunday night. And hey, you’re lurking from the rooftops, just like you always do. I swear you need to call Batman and teach him the proper way to lurk, because seriously, that guy has _nothing_ on you. You don’t even have a cape, and your ‘lurk’ is like ten times cooler than his.” 

Derek rolled his eyes as his fellow superhero floated in front of him. Red Spark’s white skintight costume was decorated with red and orange flames that ran along the sides and his mask covered the top half of his face, allowing Derek to see the huge grin spread across the bottom half. 

“For the last time, Spark, I don’t lurk,” Derek grumbled. “I’m on—”

“Right, right, you’re on _patrol_ , there’s a difference,” Red Spark said, still smirking. “You’re really cute when you try to justify your lurking. Because it’s totally lurking, dude.” 

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “What are you doing out tonight? It’s Sunday. You know there’s not usually a lot of action on Sundays. I thought we agreed to alternate them.” 

“I know, but I was so bored at home,” Red Spark said nonchalantly. “Nothing to do, so I thought I would suit up and try again to convince you to go on a date with me.” 

“You can’t be serious.” 

“Hey, come on, we’re the top two superheroes in Beacon Hills. How cool would it be if we defended the city as super-powered boyfriends? We could be like the gay version of Colossus and Shadowcat. Plus our powers already complement each other: your werewolf abilities plus my magical arsenal? Don’t act like it wouldn’t be awesome.” 

“We’ve been over this, Spark. I want to keep my personal life completely separate from this,” Derek said, gesturing between them. “You don’t even know my name.” 

“Yeah, but I’d _like_ to know your name,” Red Spark said, smirking. “I’d like to know everything about you. I’ve got a thing for big, growly werewolves.” 

Derek brought a clawed hand to his face and made a disgruntled noise into his palm.

“Why me, though? I thought you said there was a cute guy who worked with you?” 

“I mean, yeah, but he’s so boring and quiet,” Red Spark said, groaning and rolling his head. “I mean he’s cute, don’t get me wrong, but he stays cooped up in his office all day and I would totally rather date someone interesting like a superhero. Like the Black Wolf.” 

Red Spark flew closer to Derek and winked at him, smirking the whole time. He leaned in close to press a kiss to Derek’s lips, but Derek turned away at the last second, palming Red Spark’s face and pushing it away. 

“You’re ridiculous,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. 

“But, alas, the mysterious Black Wolf rejects my advances,” Red Spark moaned dramatically, falling backwards. For a moment Derek thought he was going to drop out of the sky. “But never fear, for I am nothing if not persistent.” 

Derek snorted and resumed scanning the Beacon Hills skyline looking for any sign of a disturbance. 

“Seriously Wolfman, what’s it gonna take for you to go out with me? Me saving your life? Do you have some boyfriend on the side that you’re not telling me about?”

Derek caught his breath and looked away. 

“You’re _kidding_ ,” Red Spark exclaimed, practically vibrating with glee. “You sly wolf, you’ve been holding out on me. Who’s the lucky guy?” 

“I don’t—he’s not my boyfriend,” Derek muttered. “He’s just a really cute guy in my office. We’re just friends, I guess. He already has a boyfriend.” 

“Dude, why don’t you just tell him you’re you?” Red Spark asked. “I’m sure he would totally dump whoever he’s with to date a superhero. I know I would.” 

“Of course you would,” Derek shot back, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And I don’t want to bring him into this life without making sure I can always protect him. You know how villains are. They target who you’re closest to, and I don’t want him to get hurt.” 

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Red Spark answered. “Hey, so since you’re not dating anyone, I guess that means there’s still a chance for me then, huh?” 

Derek opened his mouth to reply, when he heard he heard the faint ring of an alarm. 

“Trouble,” he muttered as he leapt off the rooftop.

“How did you—right, werewolves,” Red Spark grumbled, flying after him. “I swear you have better hearing than fucking Superman.” 

***

“Seriously, Harris? You really chose _tonight_ to try and rob a bank?” Red Spark asked, folding his arms across his chest. “Don’t you and the rest of your supervillain friends know that Black Wolf and I have _nothing_ to do on Sundays? You guys don’t cover that in your weekly supervillain meetings? You literally could not have picked a worse day to rob a bank. Also, _please_ get an alias. You’re nowhere near Lex Luthor. You don’t deserve to be known on a last name basis.” 

Harris glared at Red Spark from where he was encased in a block of ice in the parking lot. Derek chuckled to himself. Red Spark seemed to have a special place of disdain in his heart for Harris. He always made sure to humiliate him 

“I thought Deucalion would’ve finished you two cowards off by now,” Harris spat, lip curling as he alternated glaring at Derek and Red Spark. “But when he does, I’ll consider that my revenge.” 

“I don’t know who Deucalion is, but if he thinks he can—hold that thought,” Red Spark said. He turned and looked as two police cruisers and a news van made their way into the parking lot. “Hey, Sheriff Stilinski! It’s about time you showed up.” 

“Evening Red Spark. Black Wolf,” the Sheriff greeted as he got out of the car. “Thanks for taking care of this.” He extended a hand to Derek, who shook it firmly. 

“All in a day’s work, Sheriff,” Derek answered. “Is there anything else you need from us?” 

“No, I think we can handle it. It looks like Red Spark really did a number on him,” the Sheriff said, glancing at Harris over his shoulder. “You get some rest, son. Beacon Hills owes you, as usual.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Derek answered, nodding one final time. 

“Why is _he_ your favorite?” Red Spark asked. “I’m the one who did all the work. All Wolfman here did was sit back and watch.” 

A funny look appeared on the Sheriff’s face. “Of course, what was I thinking? Thank you as well, Red Spark. Beacon Hills is once again in your debt.” 

Red Spark smirked and waved to Sheriff before he rushed to Derek, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “Smile for the camera.” 

Derek managed to not roll his eyes as the photographer snapped a couple of pictures of him and Red Spark, along with a couple of photos of Harris and the Sheriff. 

“Hey, is this going to make the front page?” Red Spark asked after the reporter had finished interviewing them. 

“I think so,” the reporter said, continuing to scrawl in his notepad. “Today’s been a pretty slow day for news. It’s either this or another local story about the historically cold winter we’re having.” 

“Perfect,” Red Spark said. Then he turned to Derek. “So, now that we don’t really have anything else to do, you wanna go grab coffee or something? Not a date,” he added, quickly. “Just two friendly superheroes celebrating another successful job with a cup of joe as the sun rises,” he said, gesturing to the pink and yellow streaks of light peeking out on the horizon. 

“Maybe another time,” Derek said honestly. “I have work in a couple of hours and I want to get some sleep. Can I take a rain-check?”

“Sure thing,” Red Spark answered. “I’ve definitely had my fair share of falling asleep on the job. I’m debating just telling my boss that I’m a superhero and I should be able to sleep whenever I want as payment for saving the city on a nightly basis.” 

“That would be the life,” Derek said, nodding. 

“Yeah, totally,” Red Spark answered. “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night then?” 

“See you then.” 

***

“Oh good, you’re okay.” 

“Isaac, it’s 5:30 in the morning,” Derek sighed. “You should be asleep.” 

“I know, I know, but I get worried whenever you go out,” Isaac said, getting off the couch and stretching. “You’re the only family I have left, and I don’t know what I would do if I lost you too. Besides, I slept a little bit,” he added quietly. 

Derek raised an eyebrow. 

“Okay, so I just fell asleep,” Isaac said, kicking at one of the fallen couch cushions. “But you try sleeping when your adoptive brother is out risking his life for the city and you can’t do anything to help because you’re only a human. Especially not after—” 

Derek took a deep breath and pulled Isaac into a one-armed hug, cutting him off. “I’m fine, Isaac. She can’t hurt us anymore.”

“It’s not her I’m worried about,” Isaac murmured. “I get nervous when you’re out there. When people think about Beacon Hills, they think of the Black Wolf. There’s message boards about whether or not you could beat Wolverine in a fight. The last thing I need is for some punk villain trying to take you out to make a name for himself.” 

“Nothing’s going to happen to me, Isaac,” Derek said softly. “I promise.” 

***

Derek trudged into his office the next morning. He had managed to get a couple hours of sleep, but he still wished that he was back in bed under all his blankets. 

“I made you coffee,” Isaac said, handing Derek a mug. “I was going to wake you up when I left for work this morning, but I figured you could use a couple extra minutes of sleep.” 

“Thanks,” Derek murmured, taking a sip of his coffee. “Don’t we have a staff meeting soon?” 

Isaac nodded. “Yeah, in about fifteen minutes. Do you know what it’s about?”

Derek shook his head. “Probably another contest to see who can design the catchiest commercial for whatever company it is this week.” 

“I love advertising,” Isaac deadpanned. “Well, everyone’s already in the staff room, but I figured you could really use that to wake you up.” 

Derek drained the rest of his coffee and walked out with Isaac towards the staff room. As they passed Scott McCall’s office, Isaac flushed slightly and a dopey smile appeared on his face. 

“Good night?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. “At least before you passed out on the couch?”

“ _Great_ night,” Isaac corrected. “Scott’s the best. I really like him a lot. You know he’s Stiles’ roommate, right? I’m sure he could put in a good word for you, if you ever get off your ass and tell Stiles that you like him.” 

“I—it’s not that simple,” Derek muttered. “Stiles has a boyfriend. He’s all he talks about. They hang out almost every night.” 

“Oh right, Stiles’ _boyfriend_ ,” Isaac said, rolling his eyes and making air quotes with his fingers. “The mysteriously hot guy that no one has ever seen, even though Stiles talks about him non-stop and has countless stories about him. Personally, I don’t even think he exists.”

“That’s—”

“Hey guys,” Stiles greeted as Derek and Isaac walked into the office. “Good morning.” 

“Morning, Stiles,” Derek replied as Isaac nodded at Stiles before folding himself into Scott’s arms. “How was your weekend?” 

“It was good,” Stiles said. “I hung out with my hot guy friend this weekend. You know the usual, nothing too exciting. I think we had a pretty good weekend, though. He’s so handsome. But it’s back to the old commercial designing grind.” 

Derek’s heart clenched, but he forced a smile on his face and nodded. “Sounds cool.” 

“When do we get to meet this handsome guy, Stiles?” Isaac asked. Behind him, Scott snorted affectionately and kissed the top of his head. “I’m getting kinda tired of the stories.” 

“He’s shy,” Stiles said, shrugging. “And he doesn’t talk that much, but we’re working on it. Hopefully eventually I’ll be able to convince him to come meet you guys.” 

Isaac rolled his eyes and went back to cuddling with Scott. 

“How was your weekend, Derek?” Stiles asked, rolling his eyes at Scott and Isaac. “Did you do anything fun?” 

“Not really,” Derek answered. “Just hung around the house, watched baseball.”

“Of course you did,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes somewhat fondly. “You’re the biggest homebody I know. You’re in your office all day, and you go straight home. You should live a little, get out of the house more.” 

Derek grinned to himself. If Stiles knew how he had actually spent his weekend, he wouldn’t be calling him a homebody.

“Hey guys, did you see the paper this morning?” Lydia asked as she came into the staff room. “Stiles, your favorite superhero made the front page.” 

“He did?” Stiles asked, snatching the paper away from Lydia. “Come on, Lyds, you can’t deny how hot Black Wolf is. He’s like sex on legs. That leather jacket-shirtless combo just gets me every time. I would climb that like a tree. Just think, how cool would it be to date the Black Wolf?” 

Derek coughed awkwardly and he could hear Isaac chuckle in the distance. “I guess it would be cool if you like the fast-paced lifestyle. I think it would get tiring after the novelty wore off.” 

“Ugh, you’re so domestic,” Stiles groaned, rolling his eyes and grinning at Derek. “I mean, you’re cute, but you need to live a little.” 

Derek opened his mouth to reply, but their boss, Alan Deaton walked into the room. “Settle down, everyone. Scott and Isaac, stop cuddling, it’s too early for that. Now, I’m sure you all that you know that the annual region-wide company gala is rapidly approaching.” 

“Is that the fancy one?” 

“Yes, Scott, it is a black tie affair,” Deaton answered. “Now, corporate has asked me to heavily emphasize that not only is this gala a black tie event, it is also a social event, and most of the heads of corporate will be their with their wives. So, in order to make a good impression, I highly advise you to show them that you are not only good workers but also have lives outside of the office. Meaning that you are expected to bring a date.” 

Scott’s hand shot up.

“Yes, Scott, Isaac is allowed to be your date,” Deaton said and Scott beamed. “That being said, for the rest of you single people in the office, you might want to put yourself on the market.” 

“Hey, Stiles, are you going to bring the hot mystery man to the gala?” Lydia asked. “I would if I were you.” 

“I will if I can convince him to come, Lyds.” Stiles answered. “I know you guys think he doesn’t exist, but let me assure you, he definitely does.” 

***

“He definitely doesn’t exist, Derek.” 

“How would you know that, Isaac?” Derek asked grumpily as he pulled on his leather jacket and shifted into his alpha form. “His heartbeat didn’t change when he told us that he existed. He wasn’t lying.” 

“Or maybe he just wasn’t telling the whole truth. I still think you should just ask him to be your date to the gala. He’d probably say yes.” 

“I’ll think about it,” Derek said, stretching his arms over his head. “Try to be asleep when I get back.” He ruffled Isaac’s hair and leapt out of the apartment, howling loudly as he did. 

Derek flexed his claws as he leapt to his favorite rooftop. It gave him a great view of the city, both for fighting crime and when Derek just wanted to relax. Derek enjoyed being a superhero, he really did. But sometimes he just wanted to hang up his proverbial cape and spend his life as a regular guy. 

Not that Derek would ever wear a cape. Isaac’s favorite movie growing up was The Incredibles, and Derek could probably quote the entire movie. “ _No capes!_ ”

Derek scanned the city streets. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular but it was always good to keep a sharp eye. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until he saw a line of familiar black SUV’s driving along in a single file line. 

Argents.

Derek leapt from his rooftop and tailed the SUVs until they came to a stop on the outskirts of town. He stayed hidden under the cover of darkness as the hunters got out and unloaded several cases from the back of their vans. 

“Twenty bucks whatever’s in those cases is illegal.” 

Derek didn’t even flinch; he had smelled Red Spark a couple miles back. If Derek was surprised, it was because Red Spark had taken so long to catch up to him. 

“I thought you could fly faster than that,” Derek grumbled. 

“Well, I would’ve gotten here faster, but I was trying to think of a decent pick up line that would actually work this time. The place I work for is having a little get together soon, and I was wondering if you would be my plus one. And I was helping my roommate pick out flowers for his boyfriend. They’re really cute together, but, God, he can freak out over the littlest things. Maybe I should get you flowers too, Wolfie. What kind of flowers do you like?” 

“Can this wait?” Derek asked through gritted teeth. 

“Fine,” Red Spark groaned. “But it’s not like we’re going to have a problem handling them. It’s just a group of hunters. Seriously, they’re just a bunch of hired muscle whenever a member of the Injustice League doesn’t feel like getting their hands dirty.”

“Someone’s gotta take them down,” Derek pointed out. 

“I hate it when you’re right,” Red Spark said, rolling his eyes. “Want some cover fire while you go all alpha werewolf on them?” 

Derek grunted affirmatively and crouched down in anticipation. 

Red Spark’s eyes glowed amber and suddenly a dozen rock golems sprung out from the earth near the Argents. 

“Shit! It’s Red Spark!” 

Derek leapt from the shadows, howling and swinging his claws. He held a special hatred for anyone associated with the Silver Huntress, and he relished thwarting the Argents’ plans more than anything else. 

Derek grabbed the nearest hunter and threw him against another group of hunters that were struggling with one of the golems. It was almost like bowling, as the force of Derek’s throw launched them all into an SUV, where they crumbled, unconscious. 

“Black Wolf is here too!”

Derek howled and leapt on the shoulders of one of the golems. He quickly surveyed the battlefield. The hunters were severely outmatched by Red Spark’s golems, but that didn’t stop Derek from swiping his claws across various body parts. Hunters were always relatively easy to take care of. They never put up too much of a fight, and now that most of them were pre-occupied with Red Spark’s golems, Derek could pick them off at his leisure. 

One of the hunters pulled out a flamethrower, and Derek growled in frustration as he dove for cover. There was always one hunter who decided that he was going to play a hero, and bring some sort of gadget to try to even the playing field. Flamethrowers laced with wolfsbane were the preferred method of attack for most hunters, and Derek had gotten really good at avoiding fire. 

He wove through the blasts of fire until he was face to face with the hunter. Derek smirked at the look of pure terror on the hunters face. It was one of his favorite things about taking out hunters. Derek slashed through the flamethrower and threw the hunter into one of Red Spark’s golems, snorting when the hunter bounced off of it and onto the ground. 

When Derek was satisfied that all of the hunters were either unconscious or disabled, he howled in triumph. 

“You know you’re kinda hot when you howl like that,” Red Spark said grinning, as he emerged from the shadows. “And I don’t even think you needed my lovely golems. I just think you wanted things to jump off of.” 

Derek snorted. “Thanks for the help.” 

“No worries,” Red Spark answered. He whistled lowly as he surveyed the battle scene. “I know you have a history with the Argent family, but you were, like, really intense tonight. Most of them are out cold. Rough day at the office?” 

Derek frowned as he thought back to the gala, and Stiles’ hot boyfriend. 

“You could say that.” 

“Dude, maybe we should get some curly fries after this,” Red Spark answered. “The Sheriff is already on his way.” 

“I can hear him,” Derek said. “Werewolf hearing, remember?” 

“Right, right,” Red Spark answered, rolling his eyes. “But curly fries after this? Please say yes.” 

“Maybe,” Derek replied, ignoring Red Spark's groan of annoyance. “But first, I want to know what they were planning,” he said, jerking his head towards the Argents.

“You’re not supposed to be alive,” one of the hunters croaked. “Deucalion was supposed to finish you.” 

“Deucalion—that name sounds familiar,” Red Spark said thoughtfully. “Where have I heard that before?” 

“Harris mentioned him last night,” Derek growled. He walked over to the hunter and hauled him to his feet. “Who is Deucalion? Is he the one who hired you?” 

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” the hunter laughed weakly. “If you don’t know who he is now, you’ll know him soon. He’s going to be your worst nightmare.” 

“Actually, my worst nightmare is the Boogeyman.” 

Derek glared at Red Spark over his shoulder. 

‘What?” Red Spark asked, raising his hands defensively. “He’s scary.” 

Derek rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the hunter. “Who is Deucalion and what does he want?” 

“I don’t know. I’m not that far up the ladder,” the hunter replied. “All I know is that he’s some all-powerful super villain and he promised us that he would take you two out. Permanently.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So, you’re saying there was nothing in the hunter’s cases?” the Sheriff asked, scratching his head as he look at the notepad in his hand. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they be unloading cases with nothing in them?” 

“Hunters have never been particularly smart,” Red Spark pointed out from where he was perched on one of his golems. “They just mindlessly do whatever they’re told. They’re like mindless little minions. Like the ones from _Despicable Me_ but nowhere near as cute.” 

“I know that, Spark, but this doesn’t make any sense,” the Sheriff said. “Why would this Deucalion character hire them to transport cases with nothing in them?” 

“Maybe they just picked up the wrong cases by accident,” Red Spark added. “It wouldn’t have been the first time that they messed up on something so simple.” 

“Those were the cases that Deucalion told us he wanted to pick up,” one of the hunters said with a whine. “We didn’t mess up. If they were empty, then we didn’t know that.” 

“Quiet you,” Red Spark said, shooting a small bolt of electricity at the hunter, causing him to yelp in pain. “The big boys are talking.” 

“He does bring up a good point though,” the Sheriff said, rolling his eyes. He walked over and squatted in front of the hunter. “What exactly did Deucalion want you guys to do?” 

“Like I would tell you,” the hunter spat. 

Derek knelt down next to the Sheriff, flashed his eyes and bared his fangs, all but daring the hunter to continue being defiant. 

“Fine, fine,” the hunter whimpered. “We got a call from Deucalion to pick up those cases. He said they were locked away in a warehouse and all we had to do was pick them up and transport them here. He said that in return, he would get rid of Black Wolf and Red Spark forever.” 

“Have you ever worked for Deucalion before?” the Sheriff asked calmly.

The hunter frowned but whimpered again when Derek popped out his claws. 

“No, this was the first time he contacted us, but he said he would pay us a million dollars if we were able to transport them to him.” 

“Clearly he’s never hired you guys before,” Red Spark said, floating down behind Derek and the Sheriff. “You guys are literally the worst supervillain group ever. If I were the Injustice League, I’d be embarrassed to name you guys as associates. You guys can never do anything right.” 

The hunter glared at Red Spark, who grinned and flew away. Satisfied that they weren’t going to get any more useful information out of the hunter, Derek and the Sheriff joined Red Spark over by the squad car. 

“I’m pretty sure that’s it’s safe to assume that this Deucalion guy is new to being and villain and he has no idea what he’s doing,” Derek said. “I think we should be able to go in with a full assault and take him down without too many problems.”

Red Spark and the Sheriff exchanged a look, and Derek mentally prepared himself for the barrage of logic and reasoning that they were about to shoot down his plan with.

“Actually, I’m thinking that Deucalion sounds incredibly dangerous, and I think the both of you need to be very careful,” the Sheriff said, and Red Spark nodded in agreement. 

“Oh, really?” Derek asked, frowning slightly. “Even though he didn’t really do anything? He basically sent the hunters out for nothing; it was like he knew they were going to get caught.” 

‘That’s what worries me,” the Sheriff said. “Think about it, Wolf. He hires the Argents knowing that you and Red Spark are going to stop them. He also promises them a huge lump of cash and that he’ll personally take care of the both of you. He’s clearly got you two on his mind.” 

“And last night Harris said that he thought that Deucalion would’ve taken us out by now,” Red Spark added. “He’s obviously plotting out a strategic way to take us down. Tonight was probably just a scouting mission for him to see what he was up against.” 

“I think I would’ve smelled him if he was here tonight,” Derek grumbled, looking around the darkness. “I didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary, just a bunch of weak Argents.” 

“I’d probably bet money he was here. You were probably too busy growling and flexing your muscles to notice him.” Red Spark shot back, smirking at Derek. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, because you have very nice muscles. But seriously, why else would he go through all the trouble of sending the hunters on a fake mission with nothing to gain?” 

“Whatever,” Derek muttered, folding his arms across his chest. 

“He hates it when we collab and get smart on him,” Red Spark said, slinging his arm around the Sheriff’s shoulders. He made a pouty face at Derek, then brightened. “Hey, why are we all moping around? It’s not like we have anything to worry about. I’ve made Thor tap out with my magic and Black Wolf has gone toe-to-toe with Batman in the sparring circle. Whoever this Deucalion guy is, he doesn’t stand a chance against us.” 

“Don’t get too cocky,” the Sheriff said, rolling his eyes. “The fact that Deucalion is focusing so much time and resources specifically on you two is worrisome. For all we know, Deucalion could be the strongest villain you’ve ever faced. You shouldn’t underestimate him. And you shouldn’t overestimate yourselves either.” 

“I guess you’re right,” Red Spark said. “Even though we are the top superheroes in Beacon Hills, it’ll probably be better for us if we don’t engage him if he confronts us,” he said, looking at Derek. “We don’t know what he’s capable of.” 

Derek nodded in agreement, though privately he was still in favor of smashing some skulls in. 

Red Spark smirked at him and continued talking. “Still, though, I think you’re giving this Deucalion guy a little too much credit. I mean, just look at Black Wolf. What is Deucalion going to do when he sees all of that muscle—shit, Wolfie you’ve been hit.” 

“What—” 

Derek looked down and saw that a large portion of his torso was burned. It was healing slower than it should’ve, so there was obviously wolfsbane involved. Now that Red Spark had pointed it out, Derek noticed a moderate throb on his torso and he snorted in frustration. He wasn’t angry at the pain, he was angry that the annoying hunter with the flamethrower had actually gotten a decent hit on him. 

“Are you okay?” the Sheriff asked. 

“Fine,” Derek lied. “It doesn’t even hurt.” 

“It looks nasty,” the Sheriff said, leaning closer to examine Derek’s stomach. “They got you pretty good.” 

“It’s fine,” Derek said, trying not to wince. The fucking burn was really starting to hurt now. “We have more important things to worry about. What are we going to do about Deucalion?” 

“Right now, you’re going to go see Melissa,” the Sheriff said, narrowing his eyes. “I know you say you’re fine, but I’ve seen you recover quicker from being impaled with steel pipe. You need to get that checked out.” 

“I said I was fine,” Derek growled, letting his eyes bleed red. 

“And I said you need to go to see Melissa,” the Sheriff said, squaring his shoulders and locking eyes with Derek. “Don’t make me tell you again.” 

“Or what?” 

“Well you have two options,” the Sheriff said in an annoying calm voice. “On one hand, I can incapacitate you with this handy-dandy pouch of wolfsbane that I have in my belt. On the other, I can have Red Spark wrestle you to the ground. I’m sure he would enjoy that.” 

Red Spark’s eyes lit up with excitement and he actually licked his lips. 

“I’ll just go to Melissa,” Derek grumbled. “Why do you have wolfsbane anyway?” 

“Too make sure I always get what I want,” the Sheriff said simply. “Superhero or not, I can’t have you undermining my authority.” 

“You’ve never threatened Red Spark with anything,” Derek said, frowning. 

“I have—other—ways of getting Red Spark to comply with me,” the Sheriff said. Behind him, Red Spark rolled his eyes and the Sheriff chuckled. “Go see Melissa and when she medically clears you, we’ll start thinking of ways to take Deucalion down.” 

***

“Melissa?” 

“In here, Derek,” Melissa called. “The Sheriff told me you were coming. He said you got burned?” 

“It’s nothing,” Derek mumbled, still trying to ignore the flaring pain in his torso. “It’s healing….” 

Melissa sighed and rolled her eyes. “Derek, you’ve been coming to see me ever since you first became the Black Wolf. You don’t have to play tough alpha werewolf with me. It’s okay, I won’t tell any of the other heroes that you’re secretly a softy.” 

Derek snorted and lied on the hospital table. Melissa’s office was one of the few places outside of his and Isaac’s apartment that he could let his guard down. She was the resident nurse for all the superheroes, and became the closest thing to a mother that Derek had ever had since— 

Derek pushed the thoughts of that night from his head as Melissa walked over to him with a large jar of salve. 

“What’s that?” 

“It’s a new universal salve,” Melissa explained, spreading some on Derek’s torso. The salve was cool to the touch, but as soon as it hit his skin, Derek felt his healing process start up again. “It saves time because it’s counteracts the seven main types of wolfsbane that hunters use. It might tickle a little bit,” she added. 

Derek shook his head and allowed himself to finally relax as Melissa rubbed the salve into his skin. 

“I feel like I don’t see you as much anymore, Derek,” Melissa said. “You used to be in here almost every other week with something wrong with you.” 

“That was back when I didn’t know what the hell I was doing,” Derek replied, not opening his eyes.

“Right, of course.” Melissa said, and Derek’s eyes didn’t have to be open for him to know she was smirking at him. “And now you’re the best superhero Beacon Hills has to offer. Didn’t ‘People Magazine’ rank you seventeenth on the list of most popular superheroes last year?” 

“I don’t really pay attention to that stuff,” Derek said honestly. “It’s too superficial.” 

“I don’t know why I would expect a different answer from you,” Melissa said as she continued to massage Derek’s side. “How did you get this burn anyway? You’re usually a lot more careful with hunters.” 

“Don’t remember,” Derek answered. “I didn’t even know I had it until Red Spark pointed it out.” 

“Oh, Red Spark,” Melissa said, brightening. “How is he? I haven’t seen him in a while either. I swear it’s like being a mother all over again. You guys came to me all the time when you were fledgling superheroes, but now that you’re big time, I barely see you guys.” 

“Sorry about that, I’ll try and stop by more often,” Derek said, offering Melissa an apologetic look. “But Spark is good. Loud and obnoxious, but I’d rather work with him than some of the other heroes in Beacon Hills. He’s a decent hero, even if he has trouble drawing the line between work and play.”

“Is he still hitting on you?” Melissa asked, smirking slightly. “I remember he had the biggest crush on you when you both were starting out. It was cute.” 

“He definitely still has it,” Derek snorted. “I can barely make rounds without him asking me out on a date.” 

“Why don’t you just go out with him then?” Melissa asked. “You know he’s a good guy and that he’s trustworthy. And who knows, you might have a fun time.” 

“It’s not that I don’t like him,” Derek sighed. “I do. He’s a nice guy; I just want to keep my personal life away from this. And there’s already someone else I’m interested in.” 

“Oh really?” 

“There’s this guy at my work,” Derek said. “He’s smart, funny and he’s so cute. But he has a boyfriend, so that makes asking him out a little difficult.” 

“Does this mystery guy have a name?” 

“Yeah, Stiles,” Derek said, and he tried to fight to smile that he knew was threatening to overtake his face. 

“Stiles,” Melissa said. A funny look on her face and she was quiet for a couple of moments. “That’s an—interesting name. And you’re sure he’s single?” 

“Well he always talks about this hot guy he sees every night, so I’m going to take that as a yes,” Derek said, eyeing Melissa curiously. Her heart beat a little faster than normal and she looked like she was trying to fight back a smile. 

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Melissa said. “But maybe things will work out for you, Derek. You’re a good guy, you’re due for something good to happen to you soon.” 

Derek huffed and rolled his eyes. Melissa noticed and lightly slapped him on the shoulder. 

“You do deserve something nice, Derek Hale, so don’t you huff at me. You just wait, things will work out for you eventually. I’m sure of it.” 

The funny look was back on Melissa’s face, but by now Derek was pretty sure that she was tired from working so late. 

“You’re good to go,” Melissa said, helping Derek sit up. “I’ll tell the Sheriff you’re medically cleared, try to stay away from wolfsbane flamethrowers for me, ‘kay?” 

***

The next morning there were two-dozen red roses and a note waiting for Isaac on his desk.

“Oh roses, my favorite!” 

“Who are they from Isaac?” Stiles asked, looking on as Isaac marveled at the beautiful arrangement of flowers. 

“As if you didn’t already know,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. Stiles smirked at him and elbowed him gently in the torso. Derek let out an involuntary hiss of pain; his side was still a little tender. 

“You okay?” Stiles asked carefully. 

“Fine,” Derek answered. “I walked into my countertop this morning.” 

“You would,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. 

“The note says, ‘Will you be my date to the gala? Love Scott.’” Isaac said. “Aww, that’s so sweet. He even drew a little heart.” 

“You should probably go tell him yes,” Stiles offered. “He’s been freaking out all night whether or not you would like them. He almost had a meltdown in the store trying to decide whether to get the red ones or the white ones. He even offered to pay the lady extra to get blue roses rush delivered because he knows blue is your favorite color.” 

Isaac looked like Christmas had come early. 

“He did?” 

“Go get ‘em, tiger,” Stiles said, shooing Isaac out of the office. 

“You’re a good guy, Stiles,” Derek said. 

“I try my best,” Stiles replied, grinning up at Derek. “I’m just glad Isaac liked them. You have no idea how worried Scott was. They’ve been dating since, like, the beginning of time, but Scott still freaks out over every little detail when it comes to Isaac. He honestly didn’t know if Isaac was going to say yes. I was like, ‘Scott, who else would he go with?’” 

Derek chuckled. “What about you—who are you going to the gala with?” 

“Hopefully my hot guy friend,” Stiles answered and Derek clenched his jaw. It wasn’t like he had expected Stiles to say anyone else, but it still wasn’t fun to hear that Stiles wasn’t interested in him. 

“What do you mean hopefully?” 

“Well, I haven’t really had the chance to ask him. We’re always a little busy when we meet up.” 

Derek absolutely didn’t want to picture Stiles getting ‘busy’ with anyone. Except him.

“Oh, no, dude, not like that,” Stiles said, realizing what he had insinuated. “I mean, we do—work. With my dad.” 

“Your dad is the Sheriff though,” Derek pointed out. “What kind of work do you guys do together?” 

“We save the world,” Stiles answered seriously. 

Derek _barely_ fought off the urge to roll his eyes. Stiles had absolutely no idea what saving the world meant. 

“Right,” he said instead. “So your dad is okay with you dating this mystery guy? Last time I checked he had pretty high standards for his only son. He even threatened Danny with bodily harm when he asked you out a couple months ago.” 

“Oh don’t get me started,” Stiles said, bringing a hand to his face in exasperation. “Dad _loves_ him. I honestly think I’m being replaced. He’s definitely my dad’s favorite.” 

Derek bit the inside of his cheek. Not only had Stiles’ mystery man won Stiles over, but he had also won the favor of the Sheriff. Derek knew that the Sheriff liked him as Black Wolf, but it had taken almost a year to get into the Sheriff’s good graces. Derek didn’t like the mystery man before, but he _definitely_ didn’t like him now. 

“Well that’s good,” Derek said, struggling to keep the disdain out of his voice. “If the Sheriff likes him then me must be a good guy.” 

“He’s a great guy,” Stiles said. “I can’t wait for you to meet him.” 

_I can_ , Derek thought bitterly. 

“What about you?” Stiles asked. “Who are you going to the gala with?” 

“I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it yet,” Derek said. 

“Well whoever it is, I know they’re going to be gorgeous because you don’t look like you settle for anything less.” 

This time Derek _did_ roll his eyes, because the most gorgeous guy on the planet was standing in front of him, and Derek had no idea how to get Stiles to notice him back. 

***

“ _Melissa!_ ” There’s an incredibly hot guy here with flowers for you. Hi, I’m Shirley, by the way.” 

Derek smiled awkwardly as the desk nurse brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and batted her eyelashes at him.

“Wha—oh, hi, Derek,” Melissa said, coming out of her office. “What are you doing here?” 

“I said I would stop by more often,” Derek said, handing her the flowers. “Thanks for helping me last night.” He leaned and pressed a light kiss to her cheek. 

“Don’t mention it,” Melissa said, taking the flowers and bringing them to her nose. “They smell lovely. Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” Derek said, nodding. “I should go,” he said, pointedly ignoring Shirley. “Work.” 

“Right,” Melissa said. “Be careful,” she said smiling softly. 

“ _Call me if you’re single!_ ” 

***

Beacon Hills was a beautiful city. 

Derek could stand at his rooftop and look at the Beacon Hills skyline for hours. It was just so peaceful and calm, and he loved everything about it. It was _his_ city, synonymous with Black Wolf. 

Superman had Metropolis. 

The Avengers had New York. 

Black Wolf had Beacon Hills. 

Derek howled softly as he stood on his perch. He thought of everyone in Beacon Hills as members of his pack. Derek knew he was well loved among the population. The Sheriff had even proposed a city holiday in his honor, but Derek had politely declined. He didn’t protect Beacon Hills for the fame; he protected it because his city was close to his heart. And he wasn’t going to let anyone take Beacon Hills from him. 

Derek continued scanning the horizon, enjoying the quiet sights and sounds of Beacon Hills. 

Suddenly a panicked scream pierced the air. Derek instantly zeroed in on the direction of the scream leapt in pursuit. As he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, the screaming continued, and Derek couldn’t shake the fact that he had heard that voice before, he just couldn’t place the voice to the face yet. 

Derek followed the screams, which were becoming more and more agonizing, until they just stopped and all Derek could hear was a soft whimpering. When Derek finally arrived at the alley where he heard the screams, his heart dropped into his stomach. 

“Catwoman?” he asked cautiously. 

Derek caught his breath when Catwoman didn’t answer. Her normally beautiful, long blonde hair was tangled and matted with mud and blood. Her shoulder was clearly dislocated, and her leather jumpsuit was covered in rips and tears. 

“Hey, Black Wolf,” Catwoman coughed weakly. “You always come when I need you. I could really use your help.” 

“I’m here,” Derek murmured, kneeling down next to her and draining some of her pain. Derek winced as Catwoman’s pain made it’s way up his arm, even if it was only a taste, Derek could tell that she was in a lot of pain. 

“What happened?” 

“I—I don’t know,” Catwoman coughed. “I thought it was just a guy who stole a wallet, but when I cornered him, he transformed into—I don’t know, but whatever it was fucking hurt. A lot. I never stood a chance.” 

“Did—do you know who it was?” 

“He told me his name was Deucalion. And that you were going to get yours soon.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Can you stop pacing, Spark?” Derek growled. “The nurses are going to come in here tomorrow and wonder why there’s a big circle of footprints in the middle of the hospital waiting room.” 

“He’s right,” the Sheriff said. “You’re making me anxious.” 

Red Spark turned and leveled both Derek and the Sheriff with an intense glare. His eyes glowed a brilliant amber and he clenched his jaw. 

Derek let out a low warning growl, but stopped when he felt the Sheriff’s hand on his shoulder. 

“I’m sorry if you two aren’t worried, but one of my best friends is in that hospital room and I’m freaking out a little bit,” Red Spark said, getting inches away from Derek’s face. Now that Red Spark was so close, Derek could see his jaw clench even tighter.

“I know you’re all about lurking in the shadows by yourself, Sourwolf, but Catwoman and I have gotten really fucking close.” 

“I didn’t mean—”

“Of course you didn’t!” Red Spark said, voice rising. “You never—”

“Spark,” the Sheriff cut in firmly but gently. “Calm down.” 

Red Spark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to fly off the handle like that. I just want her to be okay, ya know?” He slumped in the chair next to Derek and buried his face in his hands. 

“She’ll be fine,” Derek said, swallowing nervously. “She’s always been a fighter.” 

“I know,” Red Spark groaned into his hands. “That’s why this doesn’t make any sense. Catwoman has always been a fierce fighter. Remember that time she made Black Widow tap out? She’s a world-class hero and I’ve never heard of her getting hurt this badly before. Or this easily.” 

“Catwoman has always been a formidable opponent and a trustworthy ally,” the Sheriff agreed. “She’s pulled out of situations like this before. There’s no reason to think that she won’t come out of this one either.” 

“But she had her powers last time,” Derek said quietly. 

Both Red Spark and the Sheriff gave him questioning looks. 

“She said that Deucalion took her powers after their fight,” Derek said. “She doesn’t have her healing factor or her enhanced reflexes anymore. She’s basically a human now.” 

“Does that mean Deucalion has her powers?” Red Spark asked. “Because that would not be a good thing.” 

“I don’t know if he took them for himself or just took them away from her,” Derek replied. “But the bottom line is that she doesn’t have them.”

“Who the hell is this Deucalion guy?” Red Spark mumbled, more to the floor than anyone. 

Derek wished he had an answer

“Guys?” Melissa’s soft voice broke through the silence. “You can come in now.” 

Derek, Red Spark and the Sheriff followed Melissa into the hospital room, where Catwoman was laying on the hospital bed with various IV’s and tubes coming out of her.

“Hey guys,” Catwoman said. Even though there was a slight smile on her face, Derek could tell that she was freaking out on the inside. “Looks like Deucalion got me, huh? Sorry I couldn’t take him down for you.” 

“Catwoman—”

“Jesus, Catwoman,” Red Spark mumbled. He rushed to her side on the hospital bed and took one her hands in his own. “Are you okay?” 

“Melissa _just_ said I was fine,” Catwoman said, rolling her eyes. “Can you stop fucking smothering me? God, you’re like a lonely puppy.” 

Red Spark recoiled. “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

Catwoman’s face crumpled as she saw the hurt look on Red Spark's face. “God, Spark, I’m so sorry. I didn’t meant to snap like that. I—it’s just weird being without my powers. I’m going from angry to depressed to indifferent every second. It’s like I’m on my period, but twenty times worse.” 

“Well at least you’re still sarcastic,” Red Spark said, visibly relaxing. “I guess that means you’re pretty much back to normal. I’m really sorry about your powers, Catwoman. I didn’t mean to upset you.” 

“I know,” Catwoman said, smiling sadly. “But it wasn’t your fault. There was nothing you could’ve done to help. So I guess that means I’m just going to be powerless.”

“For what it’s worth, I’ll always remember the time you made the Black Widow tap out,” Red Spark said. 

“Yeah, well cherish that memory, because I don’t see that happening again.” 

“I’m pretty sure there’s ways you can—”

“I don’t have my powers, Spark!” Catwoman cried. “I’m useless, now. I can’t fight Deucalion again and even if I wanted to, he’d probably beat the crap out of me like he did last time. There’s nothing special about me anymore.” Her lower lip quivered as she struggled to hold back her tears. 

“Catwoman—”

“You’re wrong,” Derek said, cutting Red Spark off. “The fact that you’ve saved the city so many times makes you special, and if you’re going to throw all that away because your powers are gone, then maybe you’re not the hero I thought you were.” 

“Hey, Wolf, you might want to take it easy,” Red Spark said quietly. 

“Powers or no powers, you’re one of the best Beacon Hills has to offer,” Derek continued. “Everyone in this room knows it. I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now, but you can’t just give up just because your powers are gone. We’ll find a way to get them back, but you can’t just throw in the towel when things aren’t looking good.” 

Catwoman was silent for a couple moments. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re terrible at motivational speeches?” 

“I’ll have to add it to my resume,” Derek deadpanned. 

“Thanks, Wolf,” Catwoman said quietly. “I guess Red Spark was right. There is a heart under all that muscle and broodiness after all.” 

Derek glared at Red Spark, who shrugged his shoulders in apology and offered him a sheepish smile. 

“On slow nights, Catwoman and I may or may not get together and discuss how hot you are.”

Derek snorted and rolled his eyes before turning back to Catwoman. 

“We’ll do everything we can to find a way to get your powers back. I promise.” 

“I know,” she replied softly. “Thanks.”   
“I hate to do this now, Catwoman,” the Sheriff cut in awkwardly. “But do you mind telling us what happened?” 

“I was making rounds when I saw this guy steal this girl’s wallet,” Catwoman said. “So I followed him, and he was _weirdly_ fast, but I didn’t think too much about it at the time. But he kept running and finally I cornered him in an alley and he just transformed into this humanoid creature thing and attacked me.” 

“A humanoid creature?” 

“It was dark and I was tired,” Catwoman shot back. “But whatever it was, it was fast and strong. I was completely and totally outmatched. I never stood a chance.” 

“So, clearly the mugging was staged as a way to lure you to follow him,” Red Spark said, nodding. “You were suckered.” 

“What—how did you figure that out?” Derek asked, brow furrowing in confusion. 

Red Spark snorted fondly. “Think about it, Wolfman. Deucalion robs someone right under Catwoman’s nose and then runs into an alley. She already said that he was faster than her, so it doesn’t make sense that he didn’t just outrun her from the very start. And that’s assuming Deucalion actually _needed_ to steal a wallet. It would be like you stealing protein powder from an unsuspecting bodybuilder. You don’t need it, but you want to get noticed.”

“A bodybuilder?” Derek asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Really?” 

“More or less,” Red Spark said, shrugging. 

“Regardless, Red Spark is right,” the Sheriff said, nodding. “This whole thing was a set-up.” 

“Yeah, I think so too,” Catwoman said. “There’s no reason that a villain of his caliber needs to steal a wallet. That guy is strong enough to rob several banks in broad daylight and get away with it.” 

“He obviously hasn’t faced my magic yet,” Red Spark said, grinning. 

Derek and the Sheriff shared a look and simultaneously rolled their eyes. 

“Well, he certainly wasn’t impressed with me,” Catwoman snorted. “He said he couldn’t believe that I was among the best the Beacon Hills had to offer, and that hopefully the better heroes would put up a better fight.” 

“And how would he know something like that?” the Sheriff asked. 

“I don’t know,” Catwoman said disdainfully. “But he was mumbling something while he was draining my powers. Something about faulty intel from the Silver Huntress and that he should think twice when listening to her, because obviously times have changed since she was in Beacon Hills.” 

“Silver Huntress,” Red Spark said slowly. “Isn’t she the one who—”

Derek cut him off with a low warning growl. 

“Well I think it’s safe to assume that the better heroes are Black Wolf and Red Spark,” the Sheriff said, offering Catwoman an apologetic look. She snorted and shrugged her shoulders in response. “Did he say anything else?” the Sheriff asked quietly. 

“Not really,” Catwoman said. “I was starting to lose consciousness, but he said something about hopefully the other heroes in Beacon Hills would be better challenges, or he might as well just go straight for the Avengers and the Justice League.” 

“Perfect,” Red Spark mumbled. “Another power hungry villain intent on world domination. And this one is literally power hungry, because he actually eats powers.” 

“I’m going to have to cut this visit short, guys,” Melissa said quietly. “She really needs her rest. You all are more than welcome to come back tomorrow.” 

“Thank you, Melissa,” the Sheriff said, nodding slightly. “Get some rest, Catwoman, I’ll send a deputy in here tomorrow to check up on you.” 

***

“So let’s go over what we know,” the Sheriff said, looking at Derek and Red Spark. 

“Deucalion is crazy strong and he wants to take over the world,” Red Spark said immediately. “He can also take away peoples’ powers. But we don’t know if he can absorb the powers that he takes.” 

“Right,” the Sheriff agreed. “And even though it looks like his end game is the world, he seems to have fixated on the two of you for some reason.” 

“Probably because we’re awesome,” Red Spark said. “I mean we’re nationally known superheroes. I still have Iron Man’s invitation to the Avengers on my desk at home, and I text the Flash every now and then.” 

“You would be friends with two of the most obnoxious heroes on the planet,” the Sheriff said, shaking his head. “Why can’t you be friends with anyone more serious, like Batman or Cyclops?” 

“One, because they’re boring and two, because they’re all friends with Black Wolf and he doesn’t like me very much,” Red Spark said, tossing a grin in Derek’s direction. 

“Wolf?” the Sheriff asked quietly. “You haven’t said much since—we were in the room. Is everything okay?” 

“Fine,” Derek gritted out. “Just tell me what the plan is to take this guy down.” 

“That’s the thing,” the Sheriff said. “I have one, but I don’t think you’re going to like it right off the bat.” 

“What is it?” 

“I don’t want either of you confronting Deucalion,” the Sheriff said calmly. “At least not now.” 

“What?” Derek snarled. He could feel his eyes flash and his fangs elongated. The calm expression stayed on the Sheriff’s face, and that didn’t sit right with Derek. “You can’t be serious. He’s been talking with the Silver Huntress! You know what she did to my family.” 

Derek took a step towards the Sheriff, but stopped when Red Spark stepped in front of him, stretching his arms out and effectively shielding the Sheriff from Derek. 

“Relax, Wolf,” he said quietly. “Let’s just see what he has to say.” 

Derek growled lowly, but stepped back and let the red fade from his eyes. He nodded minutely and waited for the Sheriff to continue. 

“Right,” the Sheriff said. “It’s clear that Deucalion has done his homework on the heroes of Beacon Hills. He clearly knew how to take care of Catwoman, and we all know that she’s not easy to take down. The last thing we need is for him to lure you two into a trap and steal your powers.” 

“So we’re supposed to just wait around and do nothing while Deucalion runs around the city?” Derek snarled. “I can’t imagine anything going wrong with that plan.” 

“No, not quite,” the Sheriff said, ignoring Derek’s sarcasm. “I want you two to lay low for a while. Don’t go out on patrol, don’t go do rounds, don’t even suit up. At least not until we get more information on Deucalion.” 

“I don’t know, Sheriff,” Red Spark said, frowning. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to leave the city unprotected. Deucalion is without a doubt the most dangerous guy we’ve gone up against, and I don’t want to use the people of Beacon Hills as fodder while we gather information.” 

Derek nodded his head. 

“I understand that, Spark,” the Sheriff said. “But at the same time, I don’t think that Deucalion is here for any other reason that to drain both of your powers and move on. Both Harris and the Argents mentioned that Deucalion was supposed to take care of you both, so I don’t think he’ll go after innocent people to lure you out of hiding.” 

“He went after Catwoman,” Derek pointed out. “And we can’t just wait until he decides to go after someone else.” 

“We don’t really have a choice at the moment,” the Sheriff said. “He clearly was targeting Catwoman. He had a specific plan in mind to take her out, and I’d bet that he’s working on a plan to take you two down to.” 

“So what?” 

“So, we can’t let either of you get your powers drained,” the Sheriff said. “Right now Deucalion has the upper hand. He already has some intel on you and if you go in now, odds are he’s going to know exactly what to do. We just can’t risk that happening right now.” 

“I guess that makes sense,” Red Spark finally said in agreement. “Bide our time until we can level the playing field.” 

“I know you want to go in guns blazing, Wolf,” the Sheriff said, noticing Derek’s tense expression. “And I understand where you’re coming from; I know this suddenly became personal for you, but we can’t have you going in recklessly. That could be disastrous.” 

“He can’t beat me,” Derek growled. “I won’t let him.”

“I want to believe you, but given the way that Catwoman was effectively dismantled, I’m not going to risk my two finest heroes until we get more intel on Deucalion.”

“When can we suit up again?” Red Spark asked. 

“I’m not sure yet. It might be a couple of days; it might be a couple of weeks,” the Sheriff said, fishing two pagers out of his pocket. “But until then, I have your cell phone numbers and I’ll keep in touch. If you two need to contact each other, take these two pagers. They’re on a special frequency.”

“Oh cool, we’re going to be like spies,” Red Spark said, tucking his pager into pocket. “Now we can talk to each other whenever we want?”

“Pretty much,” the Sheriff said. “I’ll be in contact as much as I can. But these will be our only means of communication for a while.”

“Don’t call me while I’m at work,” Derek growled, noticing the impish smirk on Red Spark’s face. “Or I’ll rip your throat out with my teeth.” 

“Ooh, kinky,” Red Spark said, grinning. 

“So you guys go out, have normal lives,” the Sheriff said. “Go on dates, go get drinks, hang out with your room mates, go do normal people stuff. Try to relax. You two definitely deserve it. I’ll call you as soon as I get any new leads.” 

“Relax while Deucalion is out roaming the streets,” Derek growled softly. “Sounds perfect.” 

***

“Isaac?” 

“I’m in here, Derek,” Isaac called from his room. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Derek called back. 

He slumped on the couch and put his face in his hands. He flashed back to the Silver Huntress and the sadistic smirk on her face in the courtroom, and how Isaac had squeezed his hand so tightly when the judge read out the guilty verdict. Derek’s throat tightened uncomfortably and he squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to focus on something else. 

“Derek?” Isaac asked softly as he shuffled into the room. “Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“I—yeah,” Derek said, not looking at Isaac. “I’m just tired, I guess.” 

Isaac had always been attentive, so Derek wasn’t surprised that he picked up on his lie. 

Isaac sat down next him on the couch and leaned into Derek’s shoulder. “I miss them, too,” he said quietly. He threaded his fingers with Derek’s and squeezed his hand tightly. “I miss them everyday.” 

“I wish I could’ve—” Derek swallowed hard. “I—” 

“You had just gotten the bite,” Isaac said. “You were barely a superhero then, and she knew exactly what she was doing. She would’ve killed you too.” 

“That doesn’t help me sleep at night,” Derek muttered. 

“I know,” Isaac said softly. “But _you’re_ here. And you’re doing the best you can. And they’re proud of you, Derek. I _know_ they are; Mom, Dad, Laura, all of them.” 

Derek squeezed Isaac’s hand tightly. 

“I know,” Isaac murmured. “I miss them too.” 

***

_“It’s only been three days since Deucalion attacked Catwoman, Wolf. We don’t have any new leads yet. But I promise when we find something, you’ll be the first to know. In the meantime, try to relax. Find something to take your mind off things. It might help clear your head, and you never know what might happen. I gotta go, but I’ll be in touch.”_

Derek fought off a growl and went back to staring at his office walls. The past three nights had been somewhat slow since he hadn’t been allowed to suit up. It had been nice to spend more time with Isaac, but Derek couldn’t help but feel like he wasn’t contributing to stopping Deucalion. 

“Hey, Derek, can I come in?” 

Derek smiled as Stiles belatedly knocked on the doorframe of his office. 

“Yeah, what’s up?” he asked. 

“Nothing much,” Stiles answered. “Scott and I just hit creative writer’s block with the commercial we’re supposed to be designing, and we both deal with writer’s block in different ways.” 

“He’s making out with Isaac in the break room isn’t he?” 

“They prefer the phrase, ‘getting coffee’, which is weird because I don’t even think Scott _likes_ coffee,” Stiles said, grinning. “But to each their own, I guess. What commercial are you designing?” 

“Something about a five-star resort in Mexico where you get to swim with dolphins,” Derek said. “It’s not that bad. I’m just using romance music and slow-mo videos of couples swimming with dolphins and the commercial is pretty much writing itself.” 

“You always get the easy commercials,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “I think it’s because Deaton likes you.” 

“Maybe,” Derek answered. “But what’s new with you?” 

“You know, the usual,” Stiles said, waving his hand dismissively. “I have to find something to do tonight, because Scott and Isaac have a date.” 

Crap. Derek had forgotten about that. Usually whenever Isaac went out with Scott, Derek would just suit up and spend the night on patrol. But if he couldn’t suit up tonight, he was in for a long night by himself. 

“What do you usually do?” Derek asked. 

“I usually hang out with my hot guy friend, but we haven’t seen each other much in the past couple of days,” Stiles said, deflating a little. “It had something to do with his work, and we just haven’t been able to see each other.” 

Derek nodded. Stiles _had_ let up on the talk about his hot guy friend. In fact, it had been at least three days since he had come up with a new story about what he and the mystery guy had done the night before. He had tried to tell an old story, but Lydia had called him out on it. 

“Well I’m not doing anything tonight,” Derek started, trying to keep the nerves out of his voice. He had stared down the Joker, he should be able to ask Stiles out. Besides, the Sheriff had _just_ told him to get out and have fun. Stiles was fun. He could have fun with Stiles, right? “If you wanted to go grab drinks or something, maybe?” 

“You know, that doesn’t sound half bad,” Stiles said with a grin. “Drinks at Jungle after work? And then we’ll just play it by ear?” 

“It’s a date,” Derek said. Then his eyes widened as he realized what he’d just said. 

But it wasn’t a date. He and Stiles were going out as friends, and this was only because Derek wasn’t suiting up and Stiles couldn’t hang out with his mysterious hot guy. Under no circumstances was this a date. 

“Yeah,” Stiles said, grinning slightly. “It’s a date.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Stiles' POV.   
> As always apocryphal is a great help.

“I can’t remember the last time that we both had hot dates on the same night,” Stiles said from his place on the couch. “Before we go out we should take a picture to document this momentous occasion. Hashtag: doubledatenightbutnotreally.” 

“Wait, what about the time you went out with the Green Lantern?” Scott asked curiously from the kitchen. “He was kinda hot, and that was the same night that Isaac and I went on our third date.” 

“Dude, no,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “Green Lantern was okay, but could you imagine the tabloids if we actually got together? _Green_ Lantern and _Red_ Spark? We’d be, like, the official superheroes of Christmas. We’d probably have our own wrapping paper or holiday ornaments.” 

“I doubt they would take it _that_ far,” Scott said, plopping down next to Stiles on the couch. “But that would be pretty funny. Hey, what’s Black Wolf going to do when he finds out that you’re cheating on him with Derek?” 

“Oh, ha-ha,” Stiles said, shoving Scott good-naturedly. “Black Wolf and I are not dating and not for lack of trying on my part. He just doesn’t seem to want to date me. Plus I haven’t seen him since my dad put us on leave while they try to find more intel on this Deucalion guy.” 

“Oh, right, how’s that going?” Scott asked. “Has your dad found anything new?” 

“Nope. Whoever this Deucalion guy is, he’s good,” Stiles said. “My dad’s about ready to call us back in because they can’t find anything. They don’t even know what he looks like.” 

“What about Erica—Catwoman? She didn’t get a good look at him when she was tailing him?” 

“No, not really,” Stiles answered. “For one thing, his back was to her so she wasn’t able to get a good look at his face, and apparently he transformed and attacked her so fast that she doesn’t remember anything. Which is understandable. I stopped by the hospital to check on her and she’s going to be in PT for a _while_ if I read that chart right.” 

“Are you worried about the fact that Deucalion wants you and Black Wolf?” Scott asked quietly. 

“A little bit,” Stiles said. “I mean there’s always been someone who’s been out for us. Like last year when we had that psycho druid chick that wanted to sacrifice us to become immortal, and the year before when we had that crazy old man who hated Black Wolf because he was a werewolf and hated me for no apparent reason. It’s always something, just another day in the life of a hero. I kinda just do what my dad does and take it one day at a time.” 

“I guess that makes sense,” Scott said, nodding. “So, you and Derek, huh? How did that happen? I mean you’ve always had a huge thing for him ever since he and Isaac came to work with us.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Stiles said, blushing and running a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe that he actually asked me out. He’s always been so quiet, I never thought that he was interested in me.” 

“Probably because every day you come into work talking about how you hung out with your ‘hot guy friend’, also known as the Black Wolf,” Scott said. “Derek probably thinks he can’t compete. Seriously, Stiles, you talk about Black Wolf a _lot_.” 

“I know, I know,” Stiles said, taking a deep breath. “And it sucks, because I would totally date Derek instead of Black Wolf. No questions asked.” 

“Then why don’t you just go out with him?” Scott asked, sighing in exasperation. “He obviously likes you. You obviously like him. Every time we come home, you give me a detailed description of how hot Derek looked in his dress shirt and ‘Good Lord, Scott, did you see how great his ass looked in those slacks?’ You could just date him and tell him yourself. Then I wouldn’t have to be traumatized.” 

“I think you hearing about Derek’s ass is a small price to pay for all the times I’ve heard you and Isaac have sex,” Stiles shot back. “And, besides, you know why I can’t start dating Derek.” 

“Oh, here we go—”

“He’s not involved!” Stiles cried as Scott flung his hands up in exasperation. “Derek’s idea of a fun weekend is sitting around at home watching the football game. He’s the biggest homebody in the world, like he takes zero risks in life. He would freak out if he found out that I was Red Spark. I don’t see him taking that news well at all. Plus, can you even _imagine_ Derek Hale as a superhero? What would his name be? Mild-Mannered Man?” 

“Stiles—”

“I just—I don’t want to get him involved with any of this,” Stiles sighed. “I don’t want to start dating him and have him freak out and run away once he figures out what I do every night. It’s hard enough with you, your mom and my dad worrying about me. I don’t need Derek worrying about me too.” 

“‘What you do every night?’ Stiles, you make it sound like you’re a prostitute. Derek will probably be proud that he’s dating a superhero,” Scott said gently. “I’m proud that I’m living with you, my mom’s proud that she knows you, and you _know_ your dad is proud that you’re his son. I don’t know why you think Derek would think anything different.” 

“I don’t know,” Stiles said. “He always seems a little funny whenever we bring up superheroes in the office. Especially Black Wolf. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he always tenses up a little bit. Like the other day when Black Wolf and I made the front page for busting that douchebag, Harris, Derek got really quiet.” 

“Probably because you were drooling over how hot Black Wolf was. You tell me about how hot he is every morning; and it’s not fun for me to listen to, so I can imagine it can’t be pleasant for Derek.” 

“Black Wolf _is_ hot. Just because you’re head over heels for Isaac, doesn’t mean you can’t admit it.” 

“He—has nice muscles,” Scott conceded. “But he’s not my type. Isaac is.” 

“I’ll guess I can accept that,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “But back to Black Wolf and Derek. I would _totally_ date Derek over Black Wolf. Black Wolf—he’s cool and all, but I don’t think I could deal with the growly attitude all the time. He’s like the high school girl that everyone wants to date because they know they can’t. I flirt with him because it’s fun and I like to see how far I can go before his eyes turn red. But I can’t see myself dating him.” 

“And Derek?” 

“Derek is perfect,” Stiles sighed. “He’s smart, funny, and incredibly attractive, and I’m going out with him tonight and I couldn’t be happier.” 

“Awww, that’s sweet,” Scott said, smiling. Then his brow furrowed. “But if you’re going out with him tonight, what are you going to do if he asks for a second date? You just spent the last ten minutes recapping why you couldn’t date him.” 

“Right now we’re just going out as friends,” Stiles said. “His idea, not mine. He wanted to keep it casual, so we’re just gonna go out for drinks. But I guess we’ll see how it goes, I guess.” 

“You know Isaac and I started out as ‘just friends’ and look where that got us.” 

“You and Isaac also had sex in the break room within a week of knowing each other,” Stiles pointed out. “Somehow, I don’t think that Derek and I are quite at that level.” 

“It was _one time!_ ” 

***

“Table for two?” 

“Yes, please,” Stiles said as he and Derek followed the hostess. “Good call on getting dinner instead of drinks,” he said to Derek. “I love this diner. They have the best curly fries.” 

“Your server will be right with you,” the hostess said.

“Isaac told me about the curly fries,” Derek said, offering Stiles a small smile as they took their seats. “I’ve never been here before, so you’ll have to tell me what else to get.”

“You’ve never been here before?” Stiles asked. “Dude, this is the most popular diner in Beacon Hills. _Everyone_ has been here at least once. It’s like a rite of passage for living here. What have you been doing with your life?” 

“I don’t know?” Derek asked. “Isaac likes to cook a lot at home, so we don’t eat out that much.” 

“Dude, I’ve seen Isaac in action,” Stiles said. “Or kinda. He came over to our place and made Scott a home-cooked meal for one of their date nights. When I came home, there were barely any leftovers. I was a little upset.” 

“I’m surprised Isaac didn’t let you stay,” Derek said. “He loves to cook for other people.” 

“It was more like Scott didn’t let me stay,” Stiles corrected, rolling his eyes. “He’s very particular about date night. Plus, I had other plans.” 

“With your hot guy friend,” Derek said quietly. 

“Yeah—but he’s not here right now,” Stiles said, feeling a twinge of guilt at Derek’s somber expression. “Haven’t seen him for a while actually. It’s actually been kind of nice.” 

“Really?” Derek asked. “But I thought you—”

“Hi, my name is Mandy, and I’ll be your server tonight. Can I start you two gentlemen off with anything to drink?” 

“I’ll have a Mr. Pibb,” Stiles said. 

“Okay, and for you, handsome?” Mandy asked turning to Derek and flashing him a broad smile. 

“Um, just a water, thanks.” 

Stiles frowned as the tips of Derek’s ears turned pink. He didn’t know who Mandy thought she was, but he did not appreciate the fact that she was blatantly flirting with Derek when he was sitting right there. 

Of course, Stiles couldn’t really blame her. In place of his usual button-down shirt, Derek was wearing a crisp black V-neck that clung to his muscles in all the right places. The V was shallow enough so that Stiles could make out Derek’s well-defined upper pectoral muscles and tantalizing collarbones, both of which Stiles could appreciate very much. 

And Stiles was pretty well-versed in attractive muscles. He worked with superheroes on a nightly basis, and he had seen some pretty impressive bodies in his line of work, most notably Black Wolf’s. Stiles had never seen someone’s muscles make a leather jacket look so good. 

But Derek’s muscles were easily on par with Black Wolf’s. They might even be better, just because of the fact that they were Derek’s. Stiles would have to investigate that idea a little more during the rest of this dinner. 

Even though he couldn’t exactly do that with Mandy practically drooling over Derek. 

“Um, hi, Mandy—was it? I’m just going to go ahead and save you a lot of trouble, but my friend here is gay,” Stiles said, winking at Derek and grinning when the tips of his ears went from pink to bright red. “So, you can keep flirting if you want, but I’m just letting you know, you’re wasting your time.” 

“Of course he is,” Mandy sighed, rolling her eyes. “It’s true what they say, all the hot guys are either taken or gay.” She took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders as a tired smile appeared on her face. “Oh, well. Maybe the next guy. I’ll be right out with those drink orders.” 

“Sounds great. Thanks Mandy,” Stiles answered, nodding. “You’re welcome,” he said, smirking at Derek, once Mandy had left to wait on other tables. 

“You’re so weird,” Derek said, blushing slightly. “I don’t know why I agreed to come here with you.” However, the tips of his ears were still bright red, so Stiles was pretty sure Derek knew _exactly_ why he was here. 

“Actually, _you’re_ the one who invited me out,” Stiles pointed out, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m just going along for the ride. And enjoying it, I might add. Besides, as your friend, it’s my duty to protect you from the members of the female persuasion who are only nice to you because you’re attractive. Like Mandy.” 

“Mandy,” Derek repeated, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yes, Mandy,” Stiles said, nodding definitively. “She was so enamored with you, she was stumbling over her words. She didn’t know what to do with herself.” 

“You think I’m handsome?” Derek asked, a hopeful smile appearing on his face. 

“What—that’s really all you got out of that?” Stiles asked. He rolled his eyes when Derek motioned for him to continue. “Yes, you’re very handsome, you can stop fishing for compliments now. But I’m not friends with you just because of your looks.” 

“Well, then why are we friends?” Derek asked. 

“Well for starters, my best friend is head over heels for your brother, so I think that makes us friends by default,” Stiles joked, grinning at Derek. “But regardless, I’ve seen past your gruff yet attractive exterior and seen all of your wonderful qualities. So that’s why we’re friends. Even though you’re kind of boring.” 

“I’m not boring,” Derek protested. 

“Dude, you don’t do anything during the weekends,” Stiles said. “Every time I ask you how your night or your weekend was, you always say that you stayed at home and watched the game or something—did work around the house, I don’t know. Boring stuff like that.” 

“That’s—not boring,” Derek muttered. 

“It’s kind of boring,” Stiles said. “I mean it’s cute that it’s all you do, but it’s still kind of boring.” 

Derek’s eyes widened, and Stiles realized what he’d just said. 

“I mean—we’ve already established that you’re attractive and stuff, and that was why Mandy was hitting on you,” Stiles said quickly. This couldn’t be a dinner between friends if he kept subconsciously dropping hints on how attractive Derek was. 

“Of course,” Derek said, grinning slightly. “But it’s your duty as my friend to let me know that my weekend life is ‘cute but boring.’” 

“Exactly,” Stiles said, willing himself not to blush as Derek smirked at him. 

“Any suggestions on how I can make my life less boring?” 

_Become a superhero and date me_ was Stiles’ initial thought, but he was pretty sure that idea would never happen in a million years, so he kept it to himself. 

“Maybe you should get out more. Explore the city. Take in the sights.”

“Should I find myself a mystery hot guy friend to take me out for a night on the town?” Derek asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow. “That seems to work wonders for you, especially since your life isn’t boring.” 

Stiles knew that Derek was joking, but the sheer thought of someone else spending intimate moments with Derek, made his heart clench a little bit. Even though there was absolutely _nothing_ going on between him and Black Wolf, Derek still thought that Stiles was actively in a relationship with someone else, and it sucked because all Stiles wanted to do was be in a relationship with Derek. 

“Ha-ha, Derek’s got jokes,” Stiles coughed weakly, struggling to force a smile. “How about you order something for dinner that you normally wouldn’t order.” 

“Well, I don’t like eggplants,” Derek said, wrinkling his nose as he looked over the menu. “What if I tried the eggplant parm?”

“No, eggplant parm is disgusting,” Stiles said, frowning. “What do you normally order?” 

“I already told you, I’ve never been here before.” 

“Well,” Stiles said, grinning mischievously. “I really hope you like curly fries.” 

***

Dinner was—nice. 

At times it was a little awkward because Stiles had to stop himself from blatantly flirting with Derek, but at the same time, Stiles could’ve sworn that Derek was flirting with him as well. 

“Scott just texted me. He says that he and Isaac are going staying at our place tonight, so I’m sexiled for a couple hours,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes as he tucked his phone into his pocket. “Do you want to do something else? Catch a movie?” 

“I—don’t think I have anything better to do,” Derek said, fiddling with something in his pocket. 

“What could you possibly have to do anyway?” Stiles shot back. “You just drank a chocolate-vanilla swirl milkshake to try to prove to me that you’re not boring.” 

“Regular chocolate is a completely valid milkshake flavor,” Derek said, folding his arms across his chest. 

Stiles did _not_ notice how Derek’s biceps bulged when he did it either. And he _certainly_ did not come to the conclusion that Derek’s muscles were indeed better than Black Wolf’s. 

“Sorry, couldn’t really hear you over how boring you were,” Stiles said, grinning. “Come on, let’s do something!” 

“Like what?” 

“We could go to the Jungle?” Stiles suggested, against his better judgment. The last thing he wanted was to take Derek into a gay club where everyone could throw themselves at him. Curse his brain to mouth filter. 

But Derek’s eyes widened with interest, so Stiles decided to roll with it. Maybe he could touch Derek’s pecs in the dark or something.

“I’ve never really been dancing before though,” Derek muttered. 

“It’s easy,” Stiles said. He took a couple of steps toward Derek and wrapped his arms around Derek’s neck. You just shimmy your hips and wait for the magic to happen.” 

Without thinking, Stiles did a demo-shimmy against Derek’s crotch. He felt Derek’s hands settle nervously on his waist and he looked up at Derek’s face. 

“When does the magic happen?” Derek asked quietly, locking eyes with Stiles. His eyes were wide with anticipation, nervousness, and—was that arousal?

“I—I don’t know,” Stiles answered. “I’ve only been once, with Scott—Isaac was there too,” he swallowed. “I think—I don’t know. They said it was fun.” 

Something vibrated in Stiles’ pocket. 

“Your phone—” Derek said, biting his bottom lip. 

“It’s—um, it’s probably just Scott. He can wait.” 

“Okay.” 

Stiles and Derek stayed motionless for a couple more moments, Stiles arms still around Derek’s neck, and Derek’s hands resting on Stiles’ hips.

“So, maybe—maybe we should go there then,” Derek said quietly. “To Jungle, I mean. See what all the fuss is about.” 

“Yeah, I think that would be fun,” Stiles answered, noting the way Derek’s Adam’s apple bobbed when he talked. 

Something vibrated in Stiles’ pocket again. 

“Maybe you should take that,” Derek said. “It could be important.” 

Stiles pulled out his phone and saw that it was a message from his dad. 

_Deucalion has struck again, meet me at the community park._

“I—um—it’s my hot guy friend,” Stiles murmured, untangling himself from Derek’s grip. “He’s back. I should—”

“Oh, right,” Derek said quietly, taking a couple small steps backwards. He pulled out his own phone and frowned slightly when he noticed the screen. “I should go too.” 

“See you tomorrow?” Stiles said, hating the pained expression that appeared on Derek’s face. 

“Yeah, see you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and concrit are welcome! :)


	5. Chapter 5

Derek sighed and shook his head as he trudged into his apartment. Things had been going so well between him and Stiles—at least Derek thought things had been going well. He could’ve sworn that Stiles had been flirting with him throughout the dinner—he hadn’t even subtle about checking out Derek’s muscles whenever Derek moved. That being said, Derek was surprised to find that Stiles was in shape as well. His lean muscles had been on full display the entire night, though Derek thought he had been a little more discreet about admiring them. He wasn’t sure when Stiles found the time to exercise. Maybe he had joined a weekend sport league or something. 

Whatever it was, it was working for him. 

Derek frowned as he pulled his leather jacket on and extended his claws. It didn’t make any sense to him. One minute Stiles had had his arms around Derek’s neck and was all but grinding against Derek’s crotch, and the next minute he was stepping back like Derek had burned him, saying stuff about going to go meet up with his hot guy friend. Derek couldn’t shake the image of Stiles’ face out of his mind. Stiles had been so _close_ , Derek could’ve drawn a map of the moles on his face. 

Derek didn’t understand. He had heard of people running hot and cold, but Stiles had just taken the concept to a whole new level. Derek had smelled Stiles’ faint arousal throughout the date and he could almost _taste_ it when Stiles had his arms around Derek’s neck. But as soon as Stiles had gotten that text, he seemed to want nothing to do with Derek. 

Whoever this mystery hot guy was, Derek was starting to dislike him more and more. 

As Derek shifted into his alpha form, he tried to push the thoughts of Stiles from his mind. According to the texts from the Sheriff, Deucalion had taken down another hero and Derek wanted to have a clear head, especially if he was going to have to deal with Red Spark and his endless array of logic. 

***

“He took out Stealth.” 

Derek growled lowly as he knelt down and placed a comforting hand on Stealth’s shoulder, draining some of his pain. 

“That’s an understatement,” he said through clenched teeth. Stealth was in a lot more pain than Derek had anticipated. “Deucalion’s getting more aggressive. Catwoman’s injuries look tame compared to this. He needs medical attention. Where’s the ambulance?” 

“Paramedics are waiting on the edge of the preserve,” the Sheriff answered. “They can’t get into the forest because it’s so dense. I don’t want to move him because it looks like he has a neck injury. So we’re waiting for Red Spark to come so he can stabilize him with his magic and then we can get him out of here.”

“Where is he now?” Derek growled. 

“On his way,” the Sheriff answered. “Roommate issues, I guess.” 

Derek snorted and turned his attention back to Stealth. “What happened?” he asked softly, draining some more pain. 

“Deucalion ambushed me,” Stealth coughed weakly. “I was on watch downtown when he blindsided me and threw me halfway across the city. I landed here in the preserve and he came and beat the crap out of me and took my powers. I’ve never fought anyone as strong as him.” 

Derek frowned as he looked over Stealth’s body. His dark, muscled frame was littered with bumps and bruises. Based on the way he was struggling to breathe, he had a couple of broken ribs and his right shoulder was clearly dislocated, along with the dark bruises that littered his neck. His skin was covered in several small cuts, and Derek lightly ran his finger along several thin ones that ran down Stealth’s chest. 

“These are—claw marks,” Derek muttered. “But that doesn’t make any sense. When Deucalion attacked Catwoman he didn’t—”

“I was thinking the same thing,” the Sheriff said. “I think this attack proves that Deucalion does steal powers for himself instead of just taking them away from heroes. So that means that he has Catwoman’s powers and he’s more dangerous than he was before.” 

“Makes who more dangerous—Deucalion? What did he do this time?”

Derek turned as Red Spark floated down from the sky and landed lightly in front of them.

“Sorry I’m late. My roommate and his boyfriend were having sex and I couldn’t really get into my apartment to change into my costume. What did I miss?”

“Spark we—” 

“Stabilize Stealth now,” Derek snarled. “He needs medical attention.” 

Red Spark’s eyes widened at Derek’s blunt tone, but he nodded with a steely resolve and levitated the ground around Stealth, making a floating gurney. Red Spark’s eyes glowed again and four golems rose up from the ground and started to carry Stealth to the edge of the forest. 

“Let me see him,” Red Spark said, resting a hand on Stealth’s shoulder as they walked. “Hey, big guy, how are you feeling?” 

“I’ve had better days,” Stealth muttered. “You try getting the shit kicked out of you and having your powers taken. It’s not the most pleasant feeling.” 

He squirmed on the slab of rock, trying to get comfortable, and Derek growled softly at the pained expression on his face. Deucalion was going to pay for this. 

“I’ll remember this conversation when we get your powers back,” Red Spark chuckled. “For now, try not to move so much. We don’t want you to fall off the gurney. It looks like your neck might be injured and we don’t to aggravate anything.” A light blue aura appeared around his hands and he pressed them to Stealth’s chest. Stealth winced and held his breath as Red Spark gently massaged his ribs. 

“Feel better?” 

“A little,” Stealth muttered. “Thanks.” 

“We’re getting close,” Derek said, cocking his head. “I can hear the paramedics. Maybe about two minutes away.” 

“Perfect,” Red Spark said as he removed his hands from Stealth’s chest. “Because I can’t really do too much more of this. Deucalion really did a number on him. I don’t think Catwoman took a beating this bad.” 

“She didn’t,” the Sheriff said. “I wonder why he was more violent with Stealth?” Derek nodded in agreement, scowling as he did. 

“He might lose more control of himself with every superhero he drains,” Red Spark said. “So he’s drained at least two, not counting anyone he’s already drained.” He turned to Stealth. “Did he seem off while he was fighting you, like, not your average super villain?” 

“That guy—that guy is a fucking sadist,” Stealth replied darkly. “Even when he knew that he’d already won, he was still punching me. It was like he was enjoying all the pain I was in.” 

“Catwoman didn’t say anything about that,” Red Spark muttered. “Remind me to ask her about it,” he said, turning to the Sheriff. “We’re here,” he added, noticing the flashing blue and red lights. 

Derek and the Sheriff helped gingerly loaded Stealth into the back of the ambulance, while Red Spark gave one of the paramedics a run down of Stealth’s injuries. 

“Wait,” he said, as Derek was about to close the door. “Stealth, did Deucalion say anything else?” 

“What do you mean?” Derek asked. “What could he possibly say?” 

“Focus, Sourwolf,” Red Spark replied. “Deucalion has to have a plan of attack. It’s been a couple of days since he attacked Catwoman, so he may have said something to Stealth that would give us a clue as to who or where he’s going to attack next.” 

“All he said was two down, three to go,” Stealth said from the back of the ambulance. “He was muttering about hopefully the cocky one will put up a better fight, then he kicked me in the ribs and ran away.” 

“The cocky one—he’s going after Jackson,” Red Spark said, frowning deeply. “The last thing we need is for Deucalion to steal his powers. Thanks, Stealth. I’ll stop by the hospital later.” 

The paramedics closed the doors and Derek pressed his hand to the glass in a silent gesture of support before they drove away. 

“So let’s go over what we know,” the Sheriff said. “Spark?” 

Derek scowled, but folded his arms and listened. 

“Well in addition to Catwoman’s powers, Deucalion just stole Stealth’s,” Red Spark said. “So now he can melt into the shadows, phase through solid objects and turn intangible. So he’s basically a more intense version of Shadowcat. One with actual claws.” 

“Terrific,” Derek muttered. 

“And he appears to be getting more volatile with every new power he absorbs,” Red Spark continued. “He kept attacking Stealth even when the fight was over.” 

“That’s something that’s been bothering me—why isn’t he killing the heroes?” the Sheriff asked. “He’s already stolen their powers. It doesn’t make any sense to keep them alive.” 

“Well, I’m pretty sure he’s a psychopath—seriously, the Joker could take some pointers from this guy,” Red Spark answered, rolling his eyes. “But I think it’s because he likes inflicting some sort of mental trauma on the heroes whose powers he’s stolen. Think about it: you’re a powerful superhero and you use your powers for the good and not evil. Then some guy comes around, not only beats the crap out of you and steals your powers, but uses your powers for evil. How bad do you think that would mess you up in the head?” 

“Pretty bad, now that I think about it,” the Sheriff muttered. “So he’s some sort of psychopathic nutjob?” 

“Stealth called him a sadist,” Derek pointed out. 

“That’s probably only half of it,” Red Spark said. “Unless he comes back and taunts the heroes who’s powers that he’s stolen, and rubs it in their faces that they were powerless to stop him then and now they’re _literally_ powerless to stop him, that’s the only reason I can think of him having a reason to leave them alive, and if that’s the case then we need to have Catwoman and Stealth placed under constant surveillance. We don’t want him coming after them again, because if he does, he may actually kill them. We have to find him. But now that he can melt into the shadows like Stealth, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to track him down.” 

“The thing is, he’s always been the first to initiate contact,” the Sheriff pointed out. “And since we don’t know anything about him still, it’s nearly impossible to track his movements.” 

Derek looked back and forth between the Sheriff and Red Spark as they bounced ideas and theories off of each other. He folded his arms across his chest so he looked like he was knew what they were talking about, but in reality he was just waiting for them to say what the new plan was. 

“So, I think the first thing to do would be to place all of the remaining heroes on suspended animation like you did us,” Red Spark said. “If Deucalion doesn’t know who the heroes are in real life, then he can’t attack them. He only attacked Catwoman and Stealth because they were on patrol.” 

“What about Jackson?” Derek spoke up, secretly happy that he was able to contribute. 

“What about—fuck, you’re right,” Red Spark said, rolling his eyes. “I still don’t understand _why_ he had to have that press conference and announce to the entire city that he was Gold Standard. It’s like he thinks he’s Iron Man or something.” 

“Black Wolf is right, though,” the Sheriff said, and Derek did not preen. “Gold Standard is a liability since he elected to tell the town his secret identity. Thankfully you two haven’t done that.” 

“I’ll let Black Wolf know my secret identity,” Red Spark purred, winking at Derek. “I’ll let him know _all_ about me.”

“I don’t think I could handle being around you all the time,” Derek shot back. “Working with you is enough.” 

“Your words cut deep, Wolfman,” Red Spark said. “But I have not given up my quest of getting you to go out on a date with me.” 

“Keep dreaming,” Derek said. 

The only person he wanted to go on a date with was Stiles.

“If you two are done flirting, I think we’re done here,” the Sheriff said, rolling his eyes. “I’m going to call the other heroes in Beacon Hills to tell them the plan, and I’ll stop by the Whittemore mansion tomorrow.” 

“What about us?” Derek asked. “Are we back on duty?” 

The Sheriff’s brow furrowed as he weighed Derek’s question. “I guess so,” he said finally. “We still have a couple of more leads to follow, so try to be careful. If Deucalion absorbs either one of your powers, it might as well be game over.” 

***

“Hi Stiles,” Derek said as he shuffled into Stiles’ office. 

“Oh—hi, Derek. I didn’t see you there,” Stiles said, looking up from his computer screen. “What’s going on?” 

“Nothing much. I—I had a good time last night,” Derek said, trying to keep himself from blushing. 

“Oh, I did too,” Stiles said, flashing Derek a broad smile. “We should do it again sometime. When are you free again?” 

“I—” Derek didn’t really know the answer to that. Now that he and Red Spark were back on duty, he didn’t really know when he would be able to see Stiles again. “Maybe this weekend?” 

“Too busy watching the game and working around the house?” Stiles said, smirking at Derek. “Dang, I thought we had a connection.” 

“No—I—I have stuff to—”

“Relax, Derek,” Stiles chuckled. “I was just kidding. I was the one who ended the night early. I shouldn’t be giving you a hard time.” 

“Oh right,” Derek said, nodding slightly. “How did that go—with your hot guy friend? Did you guys have a nice time?” 

“Um, not really,” Stiles said, frowning slightly. “I—we—I’d just rather not get into it.” 

“I—I’m sorry to hear that,” Derek said, pretending to be sympathetic to Stiles’ problems, though secretly he was ecstatic. Stiles had a great time with him and what seemed like a crappy time with his hot guy friend. Maybe that was a sign that Stiles was meant to be with Derek. 

“Hopefully we can get our act together in time for the gala though,” Stiles said. “Lydia and Isaac have been dying to meet him.” 

“What—you guys are going to the gala together?” Derek choked out. “I didn’t know that.” 

“Well I’ve asked him, but we were always busy doing other stuff,” Stiles answered, and Derek’s heart clenched. He didn’t even want to imagine what ‘other stuff’ meant when Stiles and his hot guy friend were concerned.

Maybe he had been reading too much into Stiles’ arousal last night. Maybe Stiles wasn’t interested in him after all. 

“What about you?” Stiles asked quietly. “Have you found a date for the gala yet? It’s coming up pretty quick, you know.” 

“I—no,” Derek said. “Not yet.” 

“Well you know, whoever it is, I have to approve of him, right?” Stiles asked, laughing nervously. “I can’t have you bringing someone ugly to the gala.” 

Derek smiled softly as he looked over Stiles’ appearance. His beautiful eyes. His pale skin that was dotted with moles. His lean, muscled frame and his long fingers that Derek had a few too many fantasies about what they could to do him. He couldn’t find anything wrong with Stiles and if he did in fact get to go the gala with Stiles, he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about going with anyone ugly. 

Stiles was beautiful. 

“I’ll make sure he’s not ugly,” Derek chuckled. “But that means I have to approve of your hot guy friend. Scott has questionable taste.” 

“You realize he’s dating your brother, right?” Stiles said, smirking. “Or was that intentional.” 

“It was intentional,” Derek shot back. 

“Yeah right,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “You and Isaac are inseparable. Tell you what, I’ll ask my hot guy friend to the gala tonight and you go to the bars and try to find someone hot enough to take to the gala with you.” 

“But I—” 

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Stiles said, cutting him off. “Hey, have you gotten lunch yet? I just realized I’m starving.” 

***

“For the last time, no.” 

“Oh come on, Black Wolf, it’s not even that big of a deal. Just show up for like thirty minutes so I can show you off to my friends and then you can go back to your brooding. It’s not the big of a deal.” 

“Spark, I am not going to be your eye candy for your company party,” Derek growled. “I don’t care if you’re meeting the CEO, find someone else.” 

“That’s the thing, I have someone else,” Red Spark muttered. “I just can’t take him.” 

“Why not?” 

“I don’t—I don’t want him to know that I’m a superhero,” Red Spark sighed. “I don’t think he would want to stay with me. And it sucks because I _really, really_ like him, and sometimes I wish I wasn’t a superhero so I could just date him without all this super secret stuff. Kind of selfish of me, huh?” 

“Not really,” Derek said, thinking about Stiles and how he just wished he could sweep him off his feet as Derek _and_ Black Wolf. There was no way that Stiles’ hot guy friend was a superhero. “Sometimes I wish I could do the same thing.” 

“Why is being a superhero so hard?” Red Spark moaned, floating in mid-air. “We save the city almost every other night, we should have troves of guys lining up trying to date us.” 

“You know you don’t want that,” Derek chuckled. “Because if you did, you’d fight crime during the day when everyone could see you.”

“Yeah, but then I’d miss out on ruling the nights with you,” Red Spark answered. “Even if you won’t come to my company get together, I still like being on duty with you the best. We make a good team.” 

“We do make a good team,” Derek replied thoughtfully. 

“Anyway, I don’t think Deucalion is going to show up tonight,” Red Spark said, pursing his lips. “He usually takes a couple days to attack again. So I think I’m going to turn in for the night. Think about what I said about the company party. I think you’ll have a good time.” 

“Thought about it, still not going,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. 

“Sourwolf. See you tomorrow.” Red Spark nodded and flew off into the night sky. Derek snorted fondly and leapt off the rooftop and ran to his apartment. He climbed through the window and landed softly in the living room, trying to be careful not to wake Isaac. 

“Isaac?” Derek called softly. He frowned and looked around the room. He didn’t hear Isaac’s breathing and he couldn’t smell Isaac anywhere in the apartment. Derek frowned as he racked his brain. Isaac hadn’t said anything about going out with Scott that night, so that option was out. 

Derek frowned as he walked around the apartment. Isaac wasn’t in his room and based on his lingering scent, he hadn’t been in the apartment for a couple hours, even though he had been there when Derek had left. If Isaac wasn’t with Scott—the only other place Derek could think to look for him—

“Fuck.” 

***

“Isaac?” Derek called, noticing the hunched figure sitting next to the gravestone. He sat down next to him and wrapped a blanket and an arm around Isaac’s shoulders, pulling his last living family member closer to him. “I know, bud. I know.” 

“I just miss them so much,” Isaac murmured, pressing his face into Derek’s chest. “I don’t—tonight was just really rough and I—” He trailed off with a muffled sob, and Derek rubbed small circles into his back in an effort to calm him down. 

“It’s okay, Isaac,” he said, pressing his nose into Isaac’s curls. “It’s okay.” 

“I miss them everyday,” Isaac said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve and leaning more into Derek. “And I wish—I wish I had powers so I could give that—that bitch what she deserves.” 

“I know, Isaac,” Derek said softly. “I know. But she’s never getting out and that’s all that matters.” 

Isaac made a small whimper and fisted his hands in Derek’s shirt. “It’s not fair,” he murmured. “She killed them and all they did was put her in prison. She killed them, Derek. Mom, Dad, Laura—they’re all gone, and—they’re never coming back. It’s just not fair.” 

Derek couldn’t say anything, so he just wrapped Isaac in both arms and held him until he calmed down a little bit more. 

“Sorry,” Isaac said quietly, rubbing the last tears out of his eyes. “I was just having a rough night. I didn’t mean to—”

“Don’t apologize,” Derek said, nuzzling Isaac’s cheek. “I get it, okay? I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” 

“You don’t have to apologize either,” Isaac said, smiling slightly. “You were busy living up to the family name. You’re still in costume by the way.” 

Derek frowned and looked down, taking in his appearance. “You weren’t home, and I kind of freaked out,” he said. “Didn’t think about changing.” 

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that,” Isaac said, corners of his mouth turning up in a smirk. “What if a member of the press caught us together? How would you explain the Black Wolf cuddling with a civilian in the middle of the cemetery?” 

“I’d rip their throat out with my teeth,” Derek growled, flashing his fangs at Isaac, who snorted and rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, right,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “We both know you’re more bark than bite.” 

“I’d have to agree,” an unfamiliar voice spoke up. “And I have to say, if it wasn’t for his powers, I’d say he’d be a colossal waste of time.” 

Derek’s eyes flashed as he whipped his head in the direction of the newcomer. He was leaning against a tree and was watching Derek and Isaac with a crazed expression on his face. 

“Isaac, run,” Derek growled. He bared his fangs and unsheathed his claws as he stood to his feet and stepped in front of Isaac.

Thankfully, Isaac picked up on the authoritative tone in Derek’s voice and scrambled to his feet. “Be safe, Derek. _Please_.” he said softly, squeezing Derek’s hand before he fled the scene. 

.Derek waited until Isaac was out of the clearing before he turned back to face the new person in the cemetery. Derek could still Isaac’s heartbeat pounding in his ears, and he didn’t want to risk Isaac’s safety by putting him in harm’s direction. Especially not with someone as dangerous as this. 

“Deucalion.” 

“Black Wolf,” Deucalion answered. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Of course, I had hoped that I wouldn’t have to fight you to take your powers, but c’est la vie.” 

“What are you talking about?” Derek growled. Isaac’s heartbeat was still pounding in his ears, so Derek circled Deucalion in the cemetery, trying to buy Isaac some more time. 

“I’ve been tailing you all night,” Deucalion answered simply. “I was going to ambush you at your apartment when you were asleep, so you coming to the cemetery definitely threw a wrench into those plans. I was going to wait for another time to ambush you, but I just had to have your powers,” he said. He ran his tongue along the corner of his bottom lip and leered at Derek hungrily. 

“You’ve been following me?” Derek asked. 

“I’ve been tracking you and Red Spark ever since that night with the hunters, and I must say I was very impressed with what I saw. You truly are two of the most talented superheroes I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch.” Deucalion answered, taking a step closer. 

For every step Deucalion took towards him, Derek took three steps back. Not because he was afraid of Deucalion, but because he had a feeling that this fight was going to get ugly and he wanted Isaac completely away from the battleground. 

“So—what are you planning?” Derek stuttered out. He wasn’t really good at this stalling for time thing, preferring to fight first and ask questions later. Suddenly he wished that Red Spark was here to help buy him time. Derek could barely hear Isaac’s heartbeat, but he still wanted to stall a little more, just to be safe. 

If Derek was conscious about anything in the world, it was Isaac’s safety. 

“Like you don’t already know. But I guess I can humor you. I do enjoy a good monologue. I didn’t really get the chance to do that after beating your sorry allies.” Deucalion answered, rolling his eyes and taking a couple more steps towards Derek. 

Derek growled softly at the mention of Catwoman and Stealth. Isaac’s heartbeat was very faint in his ears—as soon as Deucalion finished talking, Derek would take him down. 

“I want to take over the world,” Deucalion said proudly. “I want to have every superpower on the planet. So I go around from city to city and take powers that I don’t have. Then when I’ve taken out all the little heroes like you and Red Spark, I’ll go for the big guns like Superman and Captain America. Personally, I can’t wait to see Aquaman’s face when I drain his powers.” 

“But why Red Spark and I?” Derek asked. “What special powers do we have?” 

Deucalion threw back his head and laughed and Derek would be lying if he said it didn’t send shivers down his spine.

“I suppose you really don’t know how rare your healing factor is,” Deucalion said, narrowing his eyes. “As an alpha werewolf, you have one of the fastest healing factors and I’ve just decided that I want _yours_. And as for Red Spark, he’s one of the most powerful mages on the planet, probably more powerful than the Scarlet Witch or Zatanna. Once I add both of your powers to my vast collection, I’ll be almost unstoppable.” 

Derek growled lowly and crouched down in anticipation. He bared his fangs and allowed his claws to lengthen. He couldn’t hear Isaac’s heartbeat anymore, so that meant he could finally fight unrestrained. 

“You’re finally ready to go?” Deucalion asked, tilting his head thoughtfully. “You can’t hear your little friend’s heartbeat anymore? You can fight without your hands being tied?” 

“Wha—how did you know?” Derek asked, taking a step back in slight trepidation. 

“Oh please,” Deucalion said, waving a hand airily. “I’ve been watching you ever since I’ve been in Beacon Hills. I know your entire fighting style. You’re a claws first, questions later kind of hero. So when you started asking questions, I knew you were stalling for time. I know you, Black Wolf and I’m going to steal your powers. I guess the only question is how much of a fight are you going to put up?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apocryphal is fantastic.

Derek growled lowly as he and Deucalion circled each other. For the first time since he became the Black Wolf, Derek was wary of his opponent. Deucalion was volatile and unstable, but more importantly he was a formidable opponent, having taken down both Catwoman and Stealth with considerable ease. 

Every time Deucalion lunged or took a step towards him, Derek made sure to take a dodge ridiculously early and bounce lightly on the balls of his own feet, trying to anticipate Deucalion’s next move. It wasn’t his preferred fighting style by any means, but so far it was keeping him alive. He didn’t know what Deucalion was capable of and he certainly didn’t want to end up with his powers stolen. 

“Oh come on, Black Wolf,” Deucalion groaned after Derek had evaded his last attack. “Your little curly-haired friend has got to be _miles_ away by now. I probably couldn’t even track him if I _wanted_ to. Now will you _please_ make this more interesting? I’ve been dying to try out Stealth’s powers and you’re the perfect training dummy.” 

Derek responded by flashing his eyes and baring his fangs, trying to appear more threatening in a dim hope that Deucalion would back off. To his dismay, all Deucalion did was snort in disgust and roll his eyes. 

“Fine,” he grumbled. “If you’re not going to try, then I guess I’ll just force your hand and make you fight for real.” 

Derek barely had time to blink before Deucalion melted into the darkness and vanished from sight. Derek let out a low, warning growl as he looked around the cemetery, trying to figure out where Deucalion was going to strike. 

All of the sudden a fist crashed into Derek’s face and he hurtled through the air until he slammed into a tree. 

“Wow, that was even better than I thought it would be.”

Derek looked in the direction of Deucalion’s voice, but was unsurprised when he didn’t see anything. Derek struggled to his feet and ran a hand over his jaw, frowning as he felt it throb beneath his palm. 

“Show yourself,” Derek growled. 

“I’d really rather not. This is _much_ more fun.” 

Derek snarled and lunged in the direction of Deucalion’s voice, but was tackled out of the air and slammed against a gravestone, which crumbled under the impact. Winded, Derek staggered to his feet, only to be viciously kicked in the ribs, which sent him pinballing against another tree. 

Derek groaned in pain as he pushed himself to his hands and knees, struggling to catch his breath. Since Deucalion was attacking from the shadows, Derek had no idea where he was going to strike from, and as a result he was getting creamed. 

“I’m going to venture a guess and say that you’re not very good at being on the defensive.” 

Derek managed a weak growl at the pair of boots that walked up to him. He struggled to look up and saw that Deucalion was looking down on him with a sadistic smirk on his face. 

“More of an offense-is-the-best-defense kind of guy, huh?” 

Deucalion planted another vicious kick at Derek’s ribs that sent him crashing through another tree. Derek howled in pain as he felt his ribs break on impact. 

He had to get out of here. This was a fight he couldn’t win. Groaning, Derek made a desperate attempt to put some distance between him and Deucalion. Of course having broken ribs made crawling across the ground immensely painful and he wasn’t moving very fast. 

“No, no, you can’t leave,” Deucalion said, grabbing Derek’s ankle and yanking him in the air. “I still haven’t gotten the hang of Catwoman’s powers either. I can only get the claws to come in on one hand.” 

Deucalion looked at his free hand and grinned as five razor-sharp claws extended from his fingertips. 

“No, I’m lying. I just love the sound they make when I unsheathe them.” 

Still holding Derek in mid-air, Deucalion repeatedly raked his claws across Derek’s chest and torso. Helpless, all Derek could do was whine and whimper as his skin and clothes were shredded to bits. 

When it looked like Deucalion was content with the criss-crossing claw marks decorating Derek’s upper body, he tossed him in the air and aimed a kick directly in the center of Derek’s chest. 

Derek grunted and groaned as he bounced and rolled on the ground upon his landing. His entire body was hurting and he lay on the ground, trying to cover the worst of his injuries from Deucalion’s prying eyes. 

Derek groaned as he felt Deucalion move the arm covering his wounds to the side. 

“Exquisite,” Deucalion breathed. “It’s even better than I imagined it.” 

“What—what are you—talking about?” Derek croaked. 

“Your healing factor,” Deucalion murmured. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

Derek struggled to look down at his body. Sure enough, the shallowest of cuts were already starting to knit themselves back together, and the deeper ones were starting to scab over. 

“It’s beautiful.” Deucalion held up two razor sharp claws and Derek whined in anticipation of what he knew was coming. He screwed his eyes shut and bit his lip as Deucalion drug his two claws into his torso, slicing open the skin in a neat line. 

As the wound healed, Deucalion lightly ran his finger along the faint scar as it faded. “It’s like I never even touched you,” he said quietly. 

Derek squirmed and struggled as he tried to get away, but was stopped when Deucalion placed his hands firmly on Derek’s shoulders. He popped his claws into the muscle and Derek cried out in pain. 

“I’m going to take your powers,” Deucalion said, sadistic smirk reappearing on his face. “And there’s nothing you can do about it.” 

“Well, it’s a good thing he has back up.” 

Derek’s head shot up, just in time to see a blast of fire scream through the air and slam directly into Deucalion. 

Ever wary of fire, Derek seized his opportunity to slowly crawl away from Deucalion and to the cover of some thick trees. He propped himself against the trunk of a tree and tried to catch his breath as he watched the action unfold. 

“Red Spark. What a pleasant surprise,” Deucalion said, the smirk still present on his face. “I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.” 

“Yeah, well, I was just in the area and I just thought I’d join the party. You know, even up the odds a little bit.” 

“How is one-on-one uneven odds?” Deucalion asked, cocking his head. He was still smirking and it made Derek want to run and hide. That smirk was going to give him nightmares. 

“Actually, it’s two-on-one,” Red Spark shot back. “Considering that you’ve stolen at least two powers since you’ve arrived in Beacon Hills and who knows how many before that.” 

“I’ve actually lost count after the thirtieth hero,” Deucalion said, waving his hand airly. “But if you want an estimation, I’d say somewhere in the fifties.” 

“Somewhere—the fifties?” Red Spark asked, taking a small step back. “Well, those are definitely uneven odds. Fifty-on-one? Come on, he’s the Black Wolf, not Superman.” 

Derek chuckled lightly, but winced when a flash of pain flared up from his ribs. He brought a hand to them and tried to massage them lightly to stimulate the healing process. 

“Unfortunately for you, fifty is completely doable,” Red Spark continued. 

“What are you talking about?” Deucalion asked, smirking. “I’m sure if you ask Black Wolf, who I can still see by the way, he’ll tell you that I’m out of your league, Red Spark. I’ve been tracking you since your initial skirmish with the hunters, and I have lots of intel on you from other villains. Nothing you do is going to surprise me.” 

“Well that’s flattering—and creepy that you’ve spent so much time watching us,” Red Spark said as his eyes started to glow a brilliant red. “But if you had really done your homework, you’d know that I generally only use the same regular spells against the same regular villains.” 

“And your point?” 

“My point,” Red Spark continued, “is that _you_ , my friend, are not a regular villain, so of course I can’t use a regular attack on you.” By now, Red Spark’s entire body was glowing the same vibrant red, and Deucalion actually looked a little unnerved. “And you said you’ve stolen fifty powers?”

“That is correct,” Deucalion said, raising his chin defiantly. Derek saw through the façade though. The confident aura that Deucalion had when he was fighting Derek had utterly deserted him now that Red Spark was standing in front of him. 

Derek knew fear when he smelt it. He winced as he prodded his ribs. The faster he healed, the faster he could go and join Red Spark. 

“Perfect,” Red Spark said. He raised his hands and suddenly an army of rock golems rose up from the ground and another army of fire golems materialized out of thin air. 

Derek’s eyes widened. He was pretty familiar with Red Spark’s rock golems, he just didn’t know that Red Spark was able to summon so many at once. There were at least twenty rock golems staring Deucalion down. 

And Derek had no idea that Red Spark could even summon fire golems. If anything, they looked more intimidating than the rock golems. Where the rock golems looked deceivingly slow and bulky (Derek knew from first hand experience how fast they actually were), the fire golems had a leaner appearance and were covered in bright orange and yellow flames. 

They just looked like things that Derek did _not_ want to mess with. 

“ _These_ lovely creatures are my fire golems,” Red Spark said, folding his arms across his chest. “And they’re really, really hot.” He offered Deucalion a smirk of his own and his eyes flashed red as he did. “By my count, there are twenty-five rock golems and twenty-five fire golems, which is a total of fifty golems. So I think fifty-on-fifty is a pretty even playing field. Don’t you think so, Deuc-y?” 

“Don’t call me that,” Deucalion said lowly, glaring at Red Spark. “And you really think that fifty little clay toys are going to stop me?” 

“Well I guess we’re going to find out, huh?” Red Spark said, raising an eyebrow. He winked at Deucalion and curled his fingers in a “come on” gesture, daring Deucalion to attack. 

Deucalion snarled and lunged at Red Spark, only to be blindsided by one of the rock golems. The golem grabbed Deucalion by his neck and slammed him into the ground and then fell on top of him, crushing him beneath its several ton bulky frame. 

Derek was shocked. He hadn’t expected Deucalion to get handled _that_ easily. The golem just took him out as if he were an amateur villain. 

However, when the golem stood up, Derek was surprised to find that there was no trace of Deucalion. 

“Oh good, you hid in the shadows,” Red Spark said in an impressed tone. “I was hoping you would do that. It would be such a shame if you didn’t see what the fire golems could do.” 

“I don’t need to see what they can do,” Deucalion snarled, leaping from the shadows and zeroing in on Red Spark. “Because your little exhibition ends now.” 

Derek watched the whole thing happen in slow motion. 

Deucalion’s claws were inches from Red Spark’s throat and the sadistic smirk had reappeared on his face. Red Spark’s eyes widened in surprise, but then they glowed a brilliant orange before his entire body was engulfed in flames. The momentum from Deucalion’s initial leap catapulted him into the wall of fire, which exploded as soon as he passed through. Deucalion’s body went flying through the air and dropped awkwardly across a grave marker. 

“Whoa,” Derek muttered. 

“Well, that was anti-climatic,” Red Spark said, rolling his eyes. “I didn’t even get to use the fire golems.” He floated over to Deucalion and cocked his head in mock thought. “Well I guess your plan is foiled, huh, mister? I guess it’s time to go to jail now.” 

“Not quite, but we’ll meet again,” Deucalion said lowly. He started fading into the shadows and before Red Spark could stop him, he vanished all together. 

“Shoot,” Red Spark grumbled. “The Sheriff isn’t going to be too happy about that. I wonder if I can—shit, Wolf.” 

Derek barely had time to blink before Red Spark was at his side. 

“Hey, handsome,” Red Spark said quietly. “Come here often?” 

Derek groaned and rolled his eyes. He wasn’t all the way healed, his ribs were still fractured at best, and even when he was completely healthy, it took all of his patience to deal with Red Spark sometimes. 

Red Spark gently ran his hands over Derek’s chest and stomach, frowning when he saw the claw marks that still hadn’t healed.

“Let’s give that healing factor of yours some steroids, shall we?” Red Spark’s eyes and hands glowed a light blue and he gently rubbed up and down Derek’s torso, applying first aid. 

Derek finally allowed himself to relax as he felt Red Spark’s magic course through his veins. He wasn’t going to deny that it felt incredible and it was just what he needed. 

“Thanks,” he croaked, offering Red Spark a small, tired smile. 

“Don’t mention it,” Red Spark murmured continuing to massage Derek’s chest. “But sit tight, I have to call the Sheriff.” He dug one hand into his pocket, whipped out his pager and bit his bottom lip as he waited for the Sheriff to pick up. Ordinarily, Derek could’ve listened to the Sheriff’s end of the conversation, but for now he just focused on healing as quickly as possible. 

“Hey Sheriff—yeah, we’re good, I saved the day as usual—he actually got away, but you should’ve seen the beating that I gave him. He looked like a piece of crispy bacon—Melissa? Are you sure? It’s kind of late, she’s probably sleeping—alright, I’ll get him there, see you in a bit.” 

Red Spark hung up the pager and gave Derek an apologetic smile. “You have to go see Melissa—Sheriff’s orders. Can you walk?” 

Derek nodded and winced as he got to his feet. He was still a little disoriented from getting the crap kicked out of him, so he leaned on the tree for support.

“Easy does it,” Red Spark said, throwing one of Derek’s arms around his shoulders, allowing Derek to lean on him. “Let me help you.” 

“Thanks,” Derek murmured, leaning into Red Spark’s body. He was surprised at how easily Red Spark’s smaller frame fit into his larger one. “How—how did you find me?” 

“Someone called into the Sheriff’s office,” Red Spark answered as they walked. “I guess they were in the cemetery as you two were fighting.” 

_Isaac_ , Derek said to himself. A small smile appeared on his face at the thought of his little brother. Even though Isaac wasn’t a superhero, he still found ways to save Derek’s life. Derek was incredibly lucky to have him. 

***

“You look terrible.” 

“I think I should be telling you that, Derek,” Melissa said, yawning and rolling her eyes. It was nearing one-thirty in the morning and Derek felt incredibly guilty about waking her up. Red Spark’s healing had jump-started his own healing process and he was pretty sure he was fine. Unfortunately, the Sheriff wanted a second opinion, so Derek was sitting in Melissa’s office, watching her yawn her way through putting her gloves on. 

“What happened to you?” Melissa asked. 

“Deucalion,” Derek growled lowly. Suddenly he felt a sharp sting across his face. He looked up and realized that he’d been slapped. 

“Are you kidding me?” Melissa exploded. “Deucalion, Derek? He’s dangerous! You saw what he did to Stealth and Catwoman! _Why_ would you go picking a fight with him?” 

“I _didn’t_ ,” Derek snapped, letting his eyes flash as a warning. “I was at the cemetery with Isaac. He was having a—rough night and was missing our family, and I was comforting him. Deucalion showed up out of nowhere. I didn’t _go_ looking for him. And I didn’t _want_ to fight him; I was just trying to buy Isaac some time to get away and then it just sort of happened.”

“I’m sorry, Derek,” Melissa said, bowing her head. “I didn’t—I just assumed—I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine,” Derek said, shaking his head. 

“Is Isaac alright?” Melissa asked. “Why was he at the—it’s getting close isn’t it? The anniversary.” 

Derek didn’t say anything, but his jaw clenched and he felt his chest tighten ever so slightly. Melissa rested a sympathetic hand on Derek’s shoulder. 

“Your family was a great group of superheroes,” she said quietly. “I know they’re proud of you. If—if you ever want to talk about—”

“I don’t.” Derek cut in. He winced at the bluntness of his words. “Sorry, but I don’t.” 

“Derek, please,” Melissa tried gently. “What happened to your family was not your fault. The Silver Huntress—Kate, she had a job to do. You were so young at the time. Nothing you could’ve done would’ve been enough to stop her. And I know you think that prison isn’t enough for what she did, but she can’t do anything else, and she’s _never_ getting out, okay?” 

Derek swallowed thickly, but remained silent. 

“I think it would be good if you talked about it,” Melissa continued quietly. “It’s not good for you to keep all of that hurt and anger bottled up inside. Maybe you and Isaac should—”

“Is he alright?” Red Spark asked as he flung open the waiting room doors. The Sheriff was right behind him. “Is he gonna make it?” 

“He’s fine, Spark,” Melissa said, smiling softly. “You did a good job healing him.” 

“Well I couldn’t let him die on me,” Red Spark said. He meant it as a joke, but everyone could hear the sincerity behind his words. 

“Wolf, what the hell happened?” the Sheriff asked. 

Derek took a deep breath and recounted the details of the night. When he was finished, the Sheriff had an unreadable expression on his face and Melissa had covered her mouth in shock. 

“I need to make some phone calls,” the Sheriff said, turning on his heel and leaving. 

“I’m going to get some ointment for your ribs,” Melissa said, patting Derek’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back.” She followed the Sheriff out the door, leaving Derek and Red Spark alone in the room. 

Red Spark shuffled his feet a couple times before finally looking Derek in the eye. 

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said softly. “You know I’m not kidding when I say you’re my favorite, right?” 

“I know,” Derek said, smiling softly. “You saved my life.” 

“You’d do the same thing,” Red Spark said quietly. “So—I guess I’ll—um—see you around. Make sure Melissa can focus and all that good stuff. Feel better, Sourwolf.” He gave Derek one more smile, before walking towards the door. 

Derek bit his bottom lip. “Spark,” he called, as Red Spark was opening the door. “Thank you. I—owe you one.” 

Red Spark’s eyes lit up and Derek knew what he was going to say. 

“No, I’m not going to your company gala with you.” 

Red Spark deflated, but Derek pressed on. “But maybe coffee?” 

“Yeah,” Red Spark said, smiling softly. “I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week I have a tournament out of state, so I may not update next Thursday. I'll try my best, but no promises. 
> 
> Comments are love :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Sorry I missed last week. We had our final volleyball tournament of the season in Fabulous Las Vegas, and I couldn't find the time to get this posted. But I'm back now!! :)

“As much as I would love to get coffee with you tonight, I think we should wait until tomorrow,” Stiles said, smirking and running a hand through his hair. “I mean you just got the crap beat out of you. I know Melissa’s good, but I don’t want you re-cracking a rib when you laugh at my jokes during coffee. So let’s just wait until you’re entirely healed up, okay?”

“That’s assuming I laugh at your jokes,” Black Wolf replied, rolling his eyes. “Don’t get your hopes too high.” 

“My hopes weren’t high that you would ever agree to get coffee with me,” Stiles pointed out. “I’ve learned to expect the unexpected with you, Sourwolf. Get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” 

Stiles offered Black Wolf a small smile and squeezed his shoulder before walking out of the hospital room. In the hallway, he saw Melissa with the ointment for Black Wolf’s ribs. 

“Hey Melissa,” Stiles said, puffing out his cheeks as he exhaled. “Rough night, huh?” 

“I guess you could say that,” she said, offering him a tired smile. “I’m still shocked that Black Wolf was beaten so easily.” 

“I know, that surprised me too,” Stiles said honestly. “I’m pretty sure Deucalion would’ve killed him if I hadn’t jumped in to save the day. You didn’t see how badly Black Wolf was hurt; I was surprised he wasn’t dead already.” 

“Well thankfully he has his healing factor and you were there to save the day,” Melissa said, nodding. “Black Wolf owes you his life.” 

“I know, and it’s great,” Stiles said, smiling gleefully. “And we’re getting coffee tomorrow night after patrol to celebrate. _Finally_.” 

“Wait—you and Black Wolf are getting coffee?” Melissa asked slowly. 

“Yeah,” Stiles answered, offering a curious look. “Who else would I be celebrating with?” 

“Red—Stiles,” Melissa said, the corners of her mouth turning upwards in what Stiles was pretty sure was supposed to be a smile. “Does Black Wolf know that you’re—you know— _you_?” 

“No, and that’s only because he wants to keep our identities secret,” Stiles grumbled. “Which sucks, because I see him every night and I know almost nothing about his personal life.” 

“So you’re getting coffee with Black Wolf and neither of you know the other’s real names.”

“You got it.” 

Melissa muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, ‘Oh, this just gets better and better’, but Stiles wasn’t quite sure. 

“What did you say?” Stiles asked. “I’m not Black Wolf, I don’t come with super hearing and big muscles.” 

“Nothing,” Melissa said, grinning a little too mischievously for Stiles’ taste. “So, Scott tells me that you and Derek got pretty comfortable with each other the other night. What’s that about? I thought you weren’t trying to date Derek because you didn’t want to bring him into the superhero world.” 

“I—when did Scott tell you that Derek and I went out?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow. Melissa still looked like she was one bad joke away from doubling over in laughter, and Stiles still didn’t know why. “And we went out as _friends_ , I don’t know what Scott told you.” 

“Let’s pretend he told me nothing,” Melissa said, smirking. “Come on, Stiles. You used to come and pour your heart out to me about your big crush on Derek. And now that you finally went out with him, you’re not telling me about it? I thought we were closer than that.”

“Alright, alright,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “Derek and I went out the other night, and it was a lot of fun. We had a great time, and I’m pretty sure that we were about to kiss but then I got called into work because Deucalion attacked Stealth.” 

“Why didn’t you just kiss him and leave?” Melissa asked. 

“Because if I kissed him, then I probably wouldn’t have been able to stop myself,” Stiles muttered honestly. “I—I’ll be honest, I wish the other night _had_ been a date. And I wish that I could’ve told Derek that I’m head over heels for him and that I’m a superhero, but I didn’t. So when my dad texted me, I made up a hot guy friend that I had to meet and basically ran away. And it sucks, because I think that Derek and I really have a connection.” 

Melissa mumbled something again, and Stiles was able to pick out the words, ‘connection’ and ‘just don’t know it yet’ but he still had no idea what Melissa was talking about.

“Why do you keep mumbling?” Stiles asked, quirking an eyebrow. “It might work on Black Wolf because of his wolfy senses, but you have to talk to me in a regular voice.” 

“Sorry, just—thinking out loud,” Melissa said. “So if you’re so far into Derek, why did you seem so excited about getting coffee with Black Wolf?” 

“Because I’ve been trying to get Black Wolf to get coffee with me for as long as I can remember,” Stiles said. “I’m not really interested in him like, romantically or anything. He’s just a nice, hot and sexy distraction to take my mind off Derek while I’m on patrol.” 

Melissa made a noise that sounded like it was supposed to be a cough, but Stiles was pretty sure she was trying to cover up a laugh. 

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked slowly.

“I—fine,” Melissa said, cough-laughing again. “So Black Wolf is your distraction for Derek. How’s that working out for you?” 

“It’s fine, I guess,” Stiles said, leaning against the wall. “I keep trying to get him to be my date for the company gala, but he’s been pretty adamant about not going.” 

“Wait, why don’t you just ask Derek to go with you?” Melissa asked. “That would be a great place for a first date. And you’d be surrounded by your co-workers, so it would be in a friendly environment.” 

“I thought about that,” Stiles sighed. “And I really want to go with Derek. We would totally be the couple who gave Scott and Isaac a run for their money in the cute couples department. No offense to Scott, but he and Isaac have been running the tables long enough.” 

“Sounds like someone’s jealous.” 

“Maybe a little. Scott’s always going to be my best friend, but sometimes he and Isaac are just too much in love for my tastes,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes but noting the way Melissa snorted in agreement. “But, anyway, the gala’s at night, and I don’t want to have to ditch Derek just in case I get called in here.” 

“That makes sense,” Melissa said, nodding thoughtfully. But then the smirk reappeared on her face. “So it would just be easier to go with Black Wolf?” 

“That’s what I was thinking,” Stiles said. “That way if something comes up, we can both leave and it’ll look like we’re going to have sex or something.” 

“I’m sure Derek would love to see that.” 

“I—I can’t date Derek,” Stiles said sadly. “I wish—God I wish I could. But I can’t. It would just be too weird. I’m Red Spark and Derek’s—he’s just Derek. And there’s no way that it would work out between us.” 

“So you don’t even want to try?” 

“I don’t know, maybe?” Stiles said, shrugging. “I think Derek wants to try dating me, but it’s easier for him. He doesn’t have to put on a skintight costume every night and defend the city with his magic.” 

“This is true,” Melissa said. “But take it from me, Stiles. I think you and Derek would be good together. You both seem to really like each other and I think you two would be good together. Call it a mother’s instinct. Why don’t you just try?” 

“I—”

“For me? Try? Please?” 

“Okay,” Stiles said, smiling softly. “After I get back from coffee with Black Wolf, I’m going to ask Derek on another date.” 

***

“Dude,” Stiles said, glaring at Scott as he came into the apartment. “Why are you guys out in the living room? You know I got called into work. He could’ve seen me in costume, and that would kind of defeat the purpose of having a secret identity.” 

“He’s out like a light,” Scott said, shrugging underneath Isaac’s sleeping figure. “I think he had a rough night or something. He knocked on the door a little after you left and just had a breakdown in my arms. I don’t know what happened. All I know is that I haven’t moved since he got here and I could really use some Red Velvet Cake ice cream.”

He poked his bottom lip out and pouted at Stiles, trying to look as pitiful as possible. 

“You’re lucky I like you, bro,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes and noting the way Isaac’s face was pressed into Scott’s chest. “Give me one sec while I change.” 

“Not like I can really go anywhere,” Scott joked. 

Stiles tossed Scott a grin over his shoulder and started peeling out of his costume as he made his way to his room. 

“I’m back, Mom,” Stiles whispered as he hung up his costume. “I’m safe. Love you.” 

***

Stiles rolled out of bed the next morning and yawned as he stretched. Saturday was probably his favorite day of the week. He didn’t have to go into the office and he didn’t have to go on patrol until the evening, which meant that he could just laze around the apartment to his heart’s content. 

Usually he and Scott would just play videogames or watch television all day, but since Isaac had spent the night, Stiles was pretty sure that he was on his own today. He yawned one last time before trudging into the kitchen. He had a distinct craving for orange juice. 

“Morning, kiddo.” 

Stiles rubbed the sleep from his eyes as a voice that was definitely _not_ Scott or Isaac greeted him from the kitchen. 

“I really regret giving you a key, sometimes,” Stiles mumbled, punching the Sherriff lightly before rummaging through the fridge to find the orange juice. “What brings you to our humble abode?” 

“Just thought we could use some father-son time,” John said, smiling. “It’s been a while since I’ve last seen you.” 

“Dad, I saw you in the hospital last night,” Stiles pointed out, frowning as he poured a pitiful amount of orange juice into a glass. Scott had a nasty habit of leaving miniscule amounts of juice left in the container and then putting it back in the fridge. “We hang out all the time.” 

“No, I hang out with _Red Spark_ all the time,” John corrected. “It’s been a while since I’ve hung out with my son.” 

“Well your son’s a superhero,” Stiles muttered, frowning at his juice. “Kinda comes with the territory. You’re the sheriff, you should know this.” 

“I know, I know,” John said, smiling. “So that’s why I came over today and you’re gonna make breakfast for your old man.” 

“You know it’s going to be turkey bacon and egg whites, right?” Stiles said, smirking and re-opening the fridge. “I think we have reduced fat cheese here just for you.” 

John groaned and rubbed his hand over his face. “Maybe I should’ve come over for lunch and just picked up take-out instead.” 

Stiles chuckled at John’s grumbling. “But I guess I could splurge just on you just this once,” he said, pulling out real eggs and pork bacon. “So what’s up, daddy-o?”

“I just wanted to catch up with you. I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you without that mask covering your face,” John replied, eyeing the bacon hungrily. “How’s work? I still can’t believe that you went into the commercial designing business. I always thought you’d do something with a lot more—” 

“Talking?” 

“I didn’t want to say it out loud,” John said, grinning. “But at least it’s good that you enjoy it. And at least you and Scott are still hanging out. You two have been friends since before you guys could walk.” 

“You’re just going to ignore the fact that we live together, right?” 

“That reminds me,” John said, looking around the apartment. “Where is Scott?” 

“Either having extremely quiet morning sex with Isaac or being the big spoon,” Stiles answered, starting to whisk the eggs. “But most likely a weird combination of the two.” 

“TMI,” John said, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “But good for him. Scott’s a good guy and from what I’ve heard about Isaac, he seems like a nice guy too.” 

“Yeah, they’re pretty much the perfect couple,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes fondly. “Can’t get any more romantic than those two.” 

“I’m pretty sure you could snag someone if you put yourself out there,” John drawled. “Give them a run for their money. You’ve been single for quite some time now. It’s about time you started to start dating more.”

“I knew there was a point to this,” Stiles said, shaking his head in fond exasperation. “It’s an intervention.” 

“I’m just saying,” John said, raising an eyebrow. “I was talking to Melissa last night and I guess that you and Derek have been spending some _quality_ time together. How’s that been going?” 

“Don’t do this,” Stiles pleaded. “I will order you an extra large bacon pizza with extra cheese ever night this week if we do not have this conversation right now.” 

“I just don’t understand why you haven’t made a move,” John said, shrugging. “You’re both attractive guys and I think it would work out well.” 

“Aside from the fact that I have to save the city every night,” Stiles grumbled, spooning eggs onto two plates. “I can’t see Derek reacting well to that. So that’s issue number one. You know this. We’ve had this conversation too many times for you to have forgotten.” 

“Stiles, you know that you don’t _have_ to be a superhero, right?” John said quietly. “I—I know that you enjoy it, but if it’s cutting that much into your personal life, you can stop. I can bring in some other heroes so you can—”

“I’m not stopping,” Stiles muttered, handing John a plate. “If that means I don’t have a love life then that’s fine. It’s not that big of a deal; love is over-rated.” 

“Stiles…”

“It’s the only way I feel close to her now,” Stiles said, absentmindedly poking at his eggs. “I’m not going to sever the only bond I have with her just because some guy wants to get into my pants.” 

“Stiles… I didn’t mean it like that. You know I just want you to be happy.” 

“I am happy,” Stiles said. “Being Red Spark _makes_ me happy. It makes me feel close to her, ya know? It’s like I can do all the things that she could do and—I don’t know, I’m not going to give that up for anyone.” 

“Stiles, I never—I didn’t know that. But maybe you—I don’t know—maybe give Derek a chance? Especially if you really like him? I know you feel close to your mother when you have the costume on, and I love that you still have that connection with her, but you know she’d have wanted you to settle down by now.” 

“I know, and I _want_ to,” Stiles said softly. “I just—being Red Spark is such a huge part of my life, especially with what happened to Mom. It’s not something I want to put out there to just anyone. You know what I mean?” 

“I can’t say that I understand, because I don’t live a double life, but as long as you’re happy and safe, that’s all I care about,” John said. “But maybe you could—”

“I already know what you’re going to say and no,” Stiles said, cutting John off. “Black Wolf and I would _not_ make a good couple.”

“I’m just saying you hit on him a lot and maybe—”

“You _know_ I hit on him because if I didn’t, then patrols would be even more boring than they already are,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “Remember the time the three of us did that stake out during the Gerard fiasco? How much fun was that?”

“Stakeouts aren’t supposed to be fun, Stiles.” 

“Okay, how about this, would you rather be on a stakeout with me or Black Wolf?” 

John opened his mouth to answer, but Stiles cut him off. “Me. Yes. I know. You’ve said it yourself, Black Wolf is a little too much business for you taste. There is no way that I’d be able to put up with that for more than a couple hours a day. Patrol is hard enough, there is no way that I’d be able to have Black Wolf brooding over me 24/7.” 

“Maybe he acts differently when he’s not Black Wolf?” John pointed out. 

“That’s a possibility, but I’ll probably never find out because he won’t tell me his fucking name. So I don’t know anything.” 

“I guess you have a point,” John said. “But I’d give anything to stop hearing you sing the sonnets about Derek’s muscles and how great of a family man Derek is and this and that without you _doing_ anything about it.” 

“I don’t sing _sonnets_.” 

“Dad, I wish you could’ve seen the shirt that Derek was wearing today, oh my god his biceps looked fantastic. Oh, Dad, today Isaac was sick at work, so Derek told him to go home and then he did his work and Isaac’s work for the day. _Ohmigod_ Dad, today Derek held the door open for me, do you think that’s a sign? Hey dad, what does it mean if Derek—” 

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Stiles said, glaring at the smug expression on John’s face. “So I may talk about him a little bit.” 

“You mean a lot, but whatever, semantics,” John said, smirking as he took another bite of eggs. 

“Well you’ll be happy to know that I’m going to ask Derek on a date on Monday,” Stiles said. “So that should shut you and Melissa up.” 

“Well it’s a start,” John said, rolling his eyes. “We just want to see you happy, and from the way you talk about him, Derek makes you really happy.”

“Yeah, he does,” Stiles said, pushing the eggs around his plate as he tried to fight off his blush. 

“I thought so,” John said, “Well, good luck on Monday, I guess, hope everything works out. I love you kiddo.” 

“Love you too, Dad,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes fondly. “And I’m glad that we had this conversation over real eggs and not that healthy stuff. Sometimes you just have to splurge.” 

“That’s what I’ve been saying for years,” John replied, rolling his eyes. 

***

“I’m pretty sure that nothing’s going to happen tonight,” Stiles said, eyeing Black Wolf curiously. “It’s getting pretty late, and _someone_ owes me a coffee date. You didn’t think I’d forget, did you?” 

“Is it bad if I say yes?” Black Wolf growled lowly, rolling his eyes. He took one last sweeping look of the city and stretched his arms over his head. Stiles absolutely did not imagine what Black Wolf’s biceps looked like under his leather jacket. “But you’re right,” he said. “Let’s go.” 

Stiles grinned and floated in front of him. “Good. I’m really craving a cup of coffee and a brownie.” 

“Magicians,” Black Wolf muttered. He leapt off the rooftop and met Stiles at a twenty-four hour coffee shop. 

When Black Wolf only ordered two large coffees, Stiles cleared his throat. 

Black Wolf snorted and rolled his eyes. “And a brownie.” 

Stiles grinned and patted Black Wolf on the shoulder. “Thanks buddy.” 

“I still don’t think we’re quite even, but it’s a start,” Black Wolf said, offering Stiles a small smile. 

“Well you could get extra points if we went somewhere where less people were staring at us,” Stiles pointed out, shooting the barista a pointed look. She blushed quickly and handed them their coffees and him his brownie. “Want to head out to High Point?” 

“Spark, I’m not that dense,” Black Wolf growled, rolling his eyes as they exited the shop. “Everyone knows that High Point is where horny teenagers go to have sex in the backseat of their cars.”

“Well it’s a good thing I don’t put out on the first date,” Stiles said, eyes flashing. 

Black Wolf pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright, fine.” 

Once they got to High Point, Stiles snuggled up to Black Wolf as they sat down on top of the grassy hill. 

“Spark,” Black Wolf growled warningly. 

“Just making sure I get my money’s worth,” Stiles said cheekily, resting his head on Black Wolf’s shoulder. “It’s not every day that you can get coffee with Beacon Hills’ marquee superhero. And I wanted to see if you would squirm or run away from me.” 

Black Wolf rolled his eyes but he wrapped his arm around Stiles’ shoulders. Stiles grinned and leaned further into his body. The leather jacket was surprisingly comfortable. 

They stayed like that for a while, sipping coffee and munching on the brownie as they watched Beacon Hills wake up. Stiles knew that he had work in a couple hours but he couldn’t deny that it was nice hanging out with Black Wolf. 

Part of him wished that it was Derek was snuggling with, but Stiles still wasn’t sure that he wanted Derek to know everything just yet. Telling Derek that he was a superhero was sort of the equivalent to meeting the parents. He wanted to make sure that Derek was an absolute keeper before dropping that kind of bomb on him. It also didn’t help that Derek had already met the Sheriff and already had his glowing approval. 

On the other hand, it wasn’t like Stiles knew anything about Black Wolf either. He was just cashing in on the fact that he had saved Black Wolf’s life; no feelings involved. 

Eventually the silence was a little too much for Stiles to handle, so he started making small talk. 

“I always like sunrises,” he said quietly, sipping his coffee. “I love all the colors in the sky.” 

“I always liked moonrises better,” Black Wolf answered. 

“You would,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes and elbowing Black Wolf gently. “Freaking werewolves.” 

“I’m the only werewolf you know,” Black Wolf said, rolling his eyes. “It could be just me.” 

“I guess,” Stiles answered. “But I’ve heard stories about your family. Weren’t they always really—I don’t know—efficient on full moons?” 

Black Wolf’s throat tightened and Stiles immediately thought he overstepped. 

“Were you—I didn’t mean—”

“No, it’s fine,” Black Wolf sighed. “Melissa says that it would be good if I started talking about my family. I figure you’re a good place to start, especially since you know what it’s like to be a superhero.” 

“I guess so.” 

“But you’re right,” Black Wolf answered. “The full moon gave my family an extra bonus I guess. We were faster and stronger than we usually were, so I guess they were better on full moons.” 

“Do you get like that too?” 

“Yeah,” Black Wolf said, shrugging. “I do. Perks of being a werewolf.” 

“That’s cool,” Stiles answered. “I don’t get any extra bonuses during my special time of the month.” He smirked at Black Wolf’s low, warning growl. “But I think that’s pretty cool. The Sheriff used to tell me stories about your family. I always thought they were great heroes.” 

“Thank you,” Black Wolf answered quietly. “I’ve always wanted to be half the hero that they were.” 

“Well for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a great job,” Stiles said honestly. 

Black Wolf offered him a small smile and Stiles was pretty sure that it was first time that it had ever happened. 

“What about you? Why did you decide to be a superhero?” Black Wolf asked. 

“My mom,” Stiles answered. “The Scarlet Widow. I realized that I had her powers when I was little and I’ve been training ever since.” 

“Scarlet Widow—she was your mom? Didn’t she—”

“Sacrifice herself and her powers to save people? Yeah, she did,” Stiles said. “She gave the ultimate sacrifice. No pressure to live up to her name or anything, ya know?” 

“Shit, I didn’t—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Stiles answered quickly. “I haven’t talked about her in a while, and I just feel like you’re someone who really understands that stuff.” 

Stiles and Black Wolf were silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts. In the back of his mind, Stiles had always known that Black Wolf was the orphan hero, but he’d never really thought of the similarities between himself and Black Wolf. 

Both of them had lost family members to the hero business, and they both fought not only external demons (that had certainly been a week Stiles would not like to remember) but they had internal demons as well. Even though they were both beloved heroes in their city, they had to harbor a lot of hurt and pain in their hearts as well. 

Black Wolf’s family had been murdered by some psychotic bitch who hated them simply because they were werewolves. Stiles lost his mother because she had sacrificed herself to save people she had never even met. When his mom died, Stiles was still barely getting the hang of his powers. He could summon maybe one golem at most, and it fell apart after about ten minutes of intense concentration. 

After the funeral, John had pulled him aside and told him that he would understand if Stiles didn’t want to practice magic anymore. If being a superhero would be too hard because it would remind him of his mom. 

“No,” Stiles had said firmly. “I’m still going to be a hero. And I’m going to make Mom proud. I’m going to be the best superhero in the world. You’ll see.” 

Stiles had only lost one family member and it had been the hardest time in his life. He still wasn’t completely over it. So he couldn’t imagine all the pain and hurt that Black Wolf had to be harboring. He’d lost his entire family. And to add insult to injury they had been murdered in cold blood. At least Stiles had his dad to talk to. 

He didn’t know if Black Wolf had anyone. 

“It’s hard sometimes,” Black Wolf said, breaking the silence. “You know, to carry on the family name. I don’t know about you, I just I always feel like I’m second guessing myself.” 

“No, I totally understand,” Stiles said. “Like you’re always comparing yourself to them, even though no one else is. Like there’s always that little voice in the back of your head that’s asking, ‘what would they do?’ It’s hard, I know.” 

“It’s so hard,” Black Wolf said, offering Stiles a small smile. “I just feel like I’m in their shadow.” 

“But I think they’re proud of us,” Stiles said, looking up at the stars. “They’re probably sitting up in superhero heaven laughing at how good of a job we’re doing and how we’re worried for nothing.” 

“There’s a thought,” Black Wolf murmured. “I just wish that there was someone who knew what I was going through who could tell me without a doubt, ‘Black Wolf, you’re doing a good job.’”

Without thinking, Stiles pressed a quick kiss to Black Wolf’s mouth. As soon as he realized what he was doing, he tried to pull away, but was surprised to find that Black Wolf not only seemed to welcome the kiss, but also deepened it.

Black Wolf’s hand snaked around the back of Stiles’ neck, pulling him closer to him and Stiles could hear the low whines coming from the back of Black Wolf’s throat. As Stiles nipped along Black Wolf’s bottom lip, he felt Black Wolf’s tongue pushing at his lips, asking for entrance. Stiles was hesitant, but parted his lips at Black Wolf’s pleading whimpers. 

As soon as he felt Black Wolf’s tongue in his mouth, fireworks shot off in Stiles’ brain. This was everything he had imagined in a kiss, and he couldn’t believe it was happening with Black Wolf of all people. But Black Wolf was a surprisingly good kisser, and it was all Stiles could do to keep himself together as Black Wolf’s tongue continued to explore the inside of his mouth, fighting for dominance with his own. 

Stiles was no pushover, and pushed back against Black Wolf, biting down hard on his bottom lip. Black Wolf’s body seemed to shudder with arousal, and he growled low in his throat. He broke from Stiles’ mouth and started pressing wet, filthy kisses along Stiles’ jawline. Stiles gasped and squeezed the muscle in Black Wolf’s thigh, as sparks of pleasure shot through his body. Everything felt so good, and he didn’t want it to stop at all. 

However, when Black Wolf started kissing along his neck, Stiles was broken out of his kiss-induced state and was back in the reality of what was happening. 

This was _Black Wolf_. His co-worker. As hot and broody as he was, Stiles knew that getting involved with him would be a bad idea and would most likely end horribly for the both of them. Besides, Black Wolf probably had a guy on the side and Stiles was going to ask Derek out tomorrow. There was no way he could do that with giant hickeys running down the side of his neck. This had to stop. 

“No, no,” Stiles grunted, trying to peel Black Wolf off of his neck. “No more.” 

Black Wolf detached himself from Stiles’ neck and looked at him with a hungry expression on his face. 

“I—sorry,” Stiles said, scooting away from Black Wolf. “I don’t really know where that came from. I think it was just heat of the moment. I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just—you said that you wished that someone was there to tell you that you’re doing a good job, and I think you’re doing a great job and—”

“It’s fine, Spark,” Black Wolf said, a wry smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “And it takes two to kiss.” His eyes flashed and he leaned forward, clearly expecting another go.

“I know, but still, I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have let it get that far,” Stiles said, frowning slightly and frantically trying to put some distance between himself and Black Wolf. “That was a mistake. _My_ mistake. Thanks for the coffee and brownie. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night.” 

“Spark, wait—” 

“Goodnight, Sourwolf.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! Back on schedule! Enjoy!

Derek’s head was still spinning as he stumbled into his apartment. He had just kissed Red Spark. Actually, now that he thought about it, kissed might be a little bit of an understatement. He had almost swallowed Red Spark whole. 

Derek groaned and plopped down on the couch, dragging his hands across his face. He had never felt more confused in his life. Red Spark was his co-worker, acquaintance at best. And despite Red Spark’s consistent efforts, they had never done anything together that wasn’t work related. Derek didn’t even have feelings for Red Spark, save for maybe fond annoyance. That’s what made the kiss so confusing. 

Fuck—that kiss. Derek could play it over and over again. It had been such a good kiss. If Derek could kiss someone like that for the rest of his life, he would be a happy man. Everything had just seemed to click, one after another. It started out as a chaste closed-mouth kiss, but as soon as Red Spark parted his lips just a little bit, Derek pushed his tongue in, exploring every part of Red Spark’s mouth. As soon as that happened, bells and whistles went off in Derek’s head and that was the last thing he remembered until he had felt Red Spark pushing him away, muttering something about it being a mistake. 

Derek wasn’t sure he bought it. Kisses like that—they weren’t mistakes. Kisses like that happened when there was a real connection between two people. Like what he thought he had with Stiles.

If he was honest with himself, Derek thought he would share a kiss like that with Stiles, not Red Spark. On one hand, he knew that Stiles had his ‘hot guy friend’, but Derek was really starting to think that the guy either didn’t exist or wasn’t as serious as Stiles made him out to be. After all, Stiles still hadn’t told him the guy’s _name_. That had to be red flag number one. On the other hand, Derek knew that Red Spark was constantly trying to get him on a date, but Derek had always thought that it had been a bluff. He had never really imagined himself going on a date with Red Spark and he’d _certainly_ never thought that Red Spark would do anything like that. 

Derek sighed. This was way more than he’d bargained for when he signed up to be a superhero. He was supposed to save the city, not have an emotional conflict over which guy he wanted to date. 

A soft snore broke Derek out of his thoughts and he looked down and saw that Isaac was sleeping next to him. He had clearly tried waiting up for Derek, and had fallen asleep as usual. Derek rolled his eyes affectionately and carded his fingers through Isaac’s curls. Isaac didn’t know how lucky he was. He had a boyfriend who was crazy about him, and he didn’t have to worry about balancing two lives and the challenges that came with that. 

Isaac snuffled in his sleep and Derek glanced at the clock. It was getting late and they both had work in the morning. Derek rolled his eyes and slung Isaac over his shoulder, and carried him to his bedroom. 

Once he was in his own bed, Derek folded his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. As much as he wanted to, Derek couldn’t stop replaying the kiss in his head. When his mother had been alive, she had always told Derek that he would know his mate, based on a kiss. Derek hadn’t kissed many people in his life, but he was pretty sure that nothing could compare to the kiss he just shared with Red Spark. Four hours later and he was still thinking about it. That had to mean something, right? 

Derek sighed and rolled over. He wouldn’t be opposed to having Red Spark as a mate; he just never would have expected it. That being said, he still hadn’t kissed Stiles, so maybe there was still hope that Stiles was his mate and not Red Spark. 

***

“Oh my God! Oh my God! _Oh my God!_ ” 

Derek winced as his sensitive ears picked up Lydia’s shrill remark. It was way too early to be dealing with voices that high. Derek was still operating on less than three hours of sleep, and all he wanted to do was curl up in his bed and sleep for another three days. 

“What’s going on, Lydia? Did something happen?” Stiles asked rushing out of his office and nodding to Derek and Isaac as they walked into the room. Scott followed Stiles into the room and his entire face brightened when he saw Isaac. Derek rolled his eyes as Isaac blushed and shuffled across the room, tucking himself neatly into Scott’s waiting embrace. Seriously, sometimes they greeted each other like they hadn’t seen each other in years. 

“Look at today’s paper,” Lydia said, thrusting the newspaper into Stiles’ hands. “Looks like you’re going to have to find another hot superhero to crush on, because by the looks of this Black Wolf is definitely off the market.” 

Isaac shot Derek a confused look from across the room, and Derek shrugged his shoulders in reply. He had no idea what Lydia was talking about. He turned his attention back to Stiles, whose eyes were now as wide as dinner plates. Derek felt his heart clench, whatever Stiles was looking at couldn’t be good. 

“This—this doesn’t mean anything,” Stiles said. “Maybe they—I mean it’s probably not even him.”

“Stiles, don’t be ridiculous,” Lydia said, examining her nails with a smug expression. “Everyone can tell that’s Black Wolf in that picture and he’s making out with Red Spark at High Point. It doesn’t get more hot and heavy than that.” 

A chill jolted through Derek’s body and he felt his mouth dry up. Isaac‘s eyes widened and a shocked look crossed his face. All Derek could do was shake his head and run a hand over his face. He couldn’t believe that he and Red Spark had gotten caught, even though in hindsight, it made perfect sense. They had gone to one of the most ‘romantic’ teen hotspots in Beacon Hills on a weekend and made out. It wasn’t surprising that other people had been there. If anything Derek was more upset that he hadn’t been able to hear or smell someone else creeping up on him and Red Spark while they were kissing. He supposed it spoke more magnitudes about the kiss, but still. 

He should have noticed something. 

“Hey, leave them alone,” Scott spoke up, breaking Derek out of his thoughts. “They’re two grown men. They can do what they want. They save our city, we shouldn’t judge them.” 

“Well it’s not like they’re doing that much work,” Lydia pointed out. “There hasn’t been a threat in months.” 

Derek rolled his eyes, because for once, Lydia had no idea what she was talking about. Derek, Red Spark and the Sheriff’s department had decided that it would be a good idea to keep the whole Deucalion ordeal as top secret as possible. Spark had pointed out that if the public found out that there was a psychopathic super villain who could drain heroes of their powers, it wouldn’t take long for paranoia to set in, and for tabloids to start twisting the truth, saying Deucalion stole souls or life forces or something stupid like that. 

“So maybe that’s giving them more time to get to know each other or something. I don’t know,” Scott said, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like them making out is going to affect you or anything.” 

Derek shot Scott a pointed look. He appreciated what Scott was trying to do, but Scott was acting like he was emotionally invested in the whole ordeal. It didn’t really make any sense, but then again, this wasn’t exactly the day that he had planned. 

“Well it doesn’t affect me, but it certainly affects Stiles,” Lydia said, gesturing at Stiles who was still looking at the picture with a shocked expression on his face. “Because now he can’t fantasize about Black Wolf anymore.” 

Derek felt his cheeks heat up slightly. Sometimes he forgot that Stiles had a crush on his alter ego. Of course, Derek’s alter ego was what had gotten them all into this mess. 

“I did not _fantasize_ about him,” Stiles said, glaring at Lydia. “I was just merely appreciating his physical attributes. I mean—he’s just hot. I didn’t—I mean, I don’t know anything about him. And Scott’s right. Black Wolf and Red Spark are both grown men. They can do what they want. And it’s not like I really thought that a superhero would be interested someone like me.” He snorted and tossed the newspaper in the trashcan, with a disgusted look on his face. Stiles glared at the trashcan, and it looked like he was willing it to spontaneously combust into flames. 

Derek’s heart clenched as he watched Stiles trudge back into his office, still mumbling about stupid superheroes in their sexy costumes. Derek still didn’t quite understand where Stiles was coming from. He knew that Stiles had a crush on Black Wolf, but right now, he was acting like the picture was offending him _personally_. It made Derek’s head spin. If only Stiles knew that Black Wolf, that Derek was interested in someone like him, and that the kiss last night had been a mistake—sort of. Fuck, Derek didn’t know what to do. Why did kissing Red Spark have to feel so _right_?

***

“So, when were you going to tell me that you kissed Red Spark?” 

Derek glared at Isaac, who shot him an unimpressed look as he leaned against the doorway. 

“Save it, Derek,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Laura’s bitch face was way better than yours, and even hers didn’t work on me. So start talking.” 

“At least close the door,” Derek growled, letting his eyes flash when Isaac rolled his eyes again. Isaac was the only family he had left, but sometimes Derek really wanted to rip his throat out.

Especially now, when he had that determined look on his face. 

Isaac was looking at Derek expectantly, so he snorted and took a deep breath. 

“He kissed me,” Derek said, ignoring the dubious look on Isaac’s face. “I’m serious. We were talking about our families and how much it would mean to both of us if they could be with us again, and I guess the mood felt right to him, and he kissed me.” 

“Uh-huh,” Isaac said, nodding. At least he was starting to look like he wanted to believe Derek. “And when did kissing escalate into that? Because I gotta be honest, Derek, Scott and I don’t even kiss like that in public, and Scott’s really big on making out in public places.” 

“Trust me, I _know_ ,” Derek growled, suddenly remembering the time that he caught Scott sucking a massive hickey on Isaac’s throat in the middle of the park. “I don’t really know how it happened. It just—felt right. I felt like I was meant to be kissing him.” 

“Really?” Isaac’s eyes widened. “Do you think he’s—”

“I don’t know,” Derek retorted, cutting Isaac off. “I have no idea. But I doubt that it’ll happen again, because he said it was a mistake.” 

“But you _want_ it to happen again?” Isaac asked, tilting his head in confusion. “And what about Stiles?” 

“I don’t know what I want,” Derek muttered honestly. “And I want to kiss Stiles. I didn’t go on patrol last night expecting to make out with Red Spark. The next time I hang out with Stiles, I want to kiss him. And I want it to be even better than kissing Red Spark.” 

“Because you want to be with Stiles. Not Red Spark.” 

“Yeah, I do,” Derek said, nodding.

“Then you might want to lay off kissing other superheroes,” Isaac said, smirking. “I’m just saying, if I found out that Scott was a secret superhero and he was kissing other guys like that, he’d be sleeping on the couch.” 

“Like you have anything to worry about with Scott kissing other guys,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “He’s so far gone for you I bet he’d get your name tattooed on his forehead if you asked him to.” 

“I already asked him to get my name tattooed on him,” Isaac said. “Except it’s in a little bit more _private_ place, if you catch my drift.” He winked at Derek and then walked out of his office. 

“I will rip your throat out with my teeth,” Derek growled at Isaac’s retreated figure. 

***

The rest of the day passed without too much fanfare. For once, Derek actually got a lot of work done. Usually he spent most of his workday straddling the fine line between dozing off at his desk and staying awake just enough to get the minimum amount of work done so that Deaton wouldn’t yell at him. 

But for some reason, today, Derek was feeling a lot more energized. He actually got his proposal for the next new commercial before everyone else, drawing curious looks from all of his coworkers, especially Lydia, who had a ‘reputation’ for always turning in the first proposal. 

Since his proposal was in, Derek was sitting around his office literally staring at the walls, trying to find something to do. Isaac was still brainstorming, and they always left together, so Derek was stuck at the office until he finished. 

“Look what happens when you get your proposal in on time. You have so much time you don’t know what to do with yourself, huh?” 

“Oh hey, Stiles,” Derek said, turning around in his chair. “Are you done with your proposal too?”

“Yep, and I think I really hit it out of the park,” Stiles replied. “I’d give you details but I don’t want you going back and changing your proposal to beat mine.” 

“Whatever,” Derek said, smiling fondly and rolling his eyes. He missed Stiles this weekend, so he definitely enjoyed the fact that Stiles was in his office talking to him. “How was your weekend?”

“It was—good, I guess,” Stiles said. “Nothing really out the ordinary.” Derek heard the uptick in Stiles’ heartbeat, and wondered what Stiles could be lying about, because _something_ had happened this weekend. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask you.” 

“Shoot.” 

“So a good friend of mine told me that I should try and have more fun in my life, so I was thinking: I had a really nice time with you the other night, and I was wondering if you’d like to do it again? Except maybe, on a date?” 

Derek was sure that there was an incredulous look on his face, because Stiles quickly blushed and looked down at the floor, dragging his foot along the carpet. “I mean, unless you don’t want to, or anything.” 

“No, no, I’d love to do that,” Derek said, nodding enthusiastically. “That sounds like a lot of fun. I had fun last time, too.” 

“Really?” Stiles asked, face brightening. “I mean, of course you did. I’m awesome.” 

Derek snorted fondly and rolled his eyes, motioning for Stiles to continue. 

“But since you did have so much fun, I was thinking of upping the ante a little bit? Do something a little more couple-y? How’s mini-golf and a semi-nice dinner sound?” 

“That sounds perfect,” Derek said honestly. 

“Sweetness,” Stiles said. “Scott’s been babbling about going on a date with Isaac on Friday, so do you want to go out on Friday too? If that works for you?” 

“I’ll make it work,” Derek said, smiling brightly. “Friday it is.” 

***

The smile was still on Derek’s face when Isaac came into his office forty minutes later. 

“Sorry, I just could _not_ come up with a creative idea for—why are you so smiley?” 

“Stiles just asked me on a date on Friday,” Derek said. “We’re going mini-golfing and then we’re going to get dinner.” 

“That sounds fun,” Isaac said, nodding. “I’m happy for you two. You both are finally getting your acts together. It took you long enough, but better late than never. But what are you going to do if you get called into patrol? It’s not like you can have Stealth or Catwoman cover for you. Because they’re kinda…” Isaac trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. 

“I’ll have Red Spark cover for me or something,” Derek said. “I’ll make it work. The Sheriff did say for me to go and try to enjoy myself. He doesn’t have to know that I’m going out on a date with his son.” 

“Yeah, because nothing says two grown men going on a date like _mini-golfing_ ,” Isaac snorted. 

Derek’s eyes flashed and he leapt out of his chair, catching Isaac in a side head-lock. 

“Say it,” he growled, giving Isaac a light noogie. 

“It’s not fair when you use your werewolf powers,” Isaac whined, struggling against Derek’s grip. 

“Don’t care, say it,” Derek growled again. “Don’t make me do it.”

“You wouldn’t,” Isaac groaned. He made one last feeble attempt to free himself from the head-lock, but deflated when he couldn’t break free. “Ugh, fine. Uncle.” 

“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood,” Derek said, pressing a kiss to Isaac’s hair before releasing him from the hold. “Love you.” 

“Jerk,” Isaac said, making a face at Derek before turning to the mirror and fixing his hair. “But love you too,” he added, flashing Derek a broad smile. “You ready to go?

As they walked out of Derek’s office, they noticed a large number of their co-workers standing in front of the TV screen. 

“What’s going on?” Isaac asked. 

“Jackson Whittemore’s called for a press conference,” Deaton said. “Something about what’s been going on behind the scenes in Beacon Hills. I guess there’s stuff that the Sheriff’s department has been keeping from us.” 

Derek growled low in his throat and glared at the tinny image of Jackson on the TV screen. He had never really liked working with Jackson—personally, he found him to be too egotistical and arrogant. And if Jackson was about to do what Derek thought he was going to do, he was going to cause some major problems.

“Is he doing the press conference as Jackson Whittemore or as Gold Standard?” Isaac asked, sensing Derek’s increasing irritation and squeezing his hand. 

“Both, I think,” Deaton answered. “He’s about to start talking. Shh.” 

_“My fellow townspeople, my name is Jackson Whittemore. Some of you may also know me as Gold Standard, one of the premiere superheroes in Beacon Hills.”_

Derek rolled his eyes. If Jackson was so premiere, then Deucalion would’ve gone after him first. 

_“I have called this press conference to tell you that things are not as they seem in Beacon Hills. Today I was approached by Sheriff Stilinski, asking if I would ‘lay low’ for a week or two, while they tried to figure out a super villain problem.”_

“Don’t do it,” Derek growled under his breath. “Don’t fucking do it.” 

_“What supervillain problem?”_

_“That’s what I asked,”_ Jackson answered, grinning at the reporter. _“Apparently there is a psychopathic, power draining super villain on the loose and the Sheriff doesn’t want you to know about it.”_

Derek’s eyes flashed and he barely fought off the urge to growl loudly. Leave it to Jackson to ruin everything. 

_“This super villain is named Deucalion and so far he’s drained the powers of Stealth and Catwoman. Black Wolf and Red Spark have been working on this case for the past couple of weeks now, but clearly they’ve also been working on each other, if today’s newspaper is anything to go by. The Sheriff asked me to lay low so Deucalion wouldn’t choose me as his next target, but that’s not the Gold Standard’s style."_

Derek rolled his eyes, and next to him, he saw Isaac do the same. 

_“I think it’s disrespectful to me that he would even ask that I back away from a fight, and I think it’s disrespectful to the people of Beacon Hills that he would try to keep someone as dangerous as Deucalion a secret. What’s to say he doesn’t snap and start draining the life force of everyday people?”_

_“So what is your plan now?”_

_“I’m issuing an open challenge to Deucalion,”_ Jackson said. _“If he wants my powers so bad, he’s going to have to take them from me. I’ll end this guy once and for all.”_

Cheers erupted from the TV screen and Derek snorted and pinched the bridge of his nose. Jackson had basically just given Deucalion his powers, and now Derek and Red Spark were going to have to clean up the mess. 

Derek’s pocket vibrated and a message from the Sheriff lit up his screen. 

_-Wolf, my office. Now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a day late. But I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> I _think_ there's only three chapters left. But it could be two or four. The point is, we're nearing the end, kiddies. :)

Sometimes, Stiles really wondered if choosing Scott as a best friend had been the best choice he ever made. Sure, Scott was loyal, funny and always had his back, but he also had a really annoying habit of not letting things go.

Like now, for instance.

“Stiles and Black Wolf sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

“Scott.”

“First comes love—”

“Scott.” 

“Then comes marriage—” 

“ _Scott._ ”

“Then comes a little superhero in a baby carriage!” 

“Scott, do you think Isaac would still want to be your boyfriend if I burned half your face off?” Stiles asked viciously, not taking his eyes off the road. “Because that’s what’s going to happen if you keep talking.”

“I _know_ Isaac would still want to be my boyfriend if you burned my face off,” Scott said, shooting Stiles a smug look. “Because Isaac _loves_ me. And he would still kiss me even if I only had half a face. Maybe when you and Black Wolf fall in love, he’ll kiss half your face too. Even though from the looks of that picture, he likes kissing _all_ of it. Remember that time Batman and Wonder Woman got caught kissing after a battle? That’s what you two looked like.” 

“Will you quit it?” Stiles groaned. “So I made a mistake. Why is everyone making such a big deal out of it? It’s not like we got married or anything. We _kissed._ It happens all the time, not a big deal.”

“Yeah, but when a kiss happens at _High Point,_ it usually means something. And when a kiss looks like _that_ , it’s kind of a big deal. Trust me, I kiss Isaac like that all the time, and we’re exclusive.”

“Can we just drop it?” Stiles asked as he pulled into their driveway. “I’d really rather not get a lecture from you too. I still have to listen to what my dad has to say, and no doubt he’s not going to be happy about it. He and Melissa have already started this campaign to get Derek and me together, so what happened with Black Wolf is definitely going to get me some disapproving looks. Not looking forward to that either, so can you _please_ let it go?” 

“I’m just trying to figure out why you did it.” Scott said. “I mean I know you’ve talked about how hot he was to anyone that would listen, but I thought you were all about the sheer attractiveness that is Derek Hale?”

“I was… I mean, I am,” Stiles sighed. “What happened with Black Wolf was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened, and it won’t happen again. I just got caught up in the moment and kissed him, and he happens to be a _very_ good kisser. And if he wasn’t Black Wolf and I wasn’t Red Spark, I would very much enjoy kissing him again. But he is, and I am, so that means no more kisses. Are you happy now?”

“I guess so,” Scott admitted as they walked into their apartment. “And at least now you have a hot new date with Derek on Friday. So I guess that makes up for everything, right? Are you going to kiss Derek like you kissed Black Wolf?” 

“I sure hope so,” Stiles said, grinning. “Because that would be absolutely great. Derek just _looks_ like he’s going to be a good kisser, way better than Black Wolf. Friday can’t come soon enough. Now, if we’re done here, I have to go suit up and get yelled at by my dad.” 

***

“So on a scale of one to ten, how badly did Jackson ruin our plans?” Stiles asked as he walked into the Sheriff’s office. His dad and Black Wolf were already there with grim expressions on their faces. Stiles noticed the faint blush that appeared on the tips of Black Wolf’s ears when he came in the room. He shot Black Wolf a small smile, but was a little shocked when Black Wolf turned away and pointedly ignored him. Stiles briefly debated saying something, but decided against it. They had bigger things to worry about. “I saw that he started another press conference, but I was on my way out the door. What did he say?”

“He issued an open challenge to Deucalion at the local high school on Friday night,” Black Wolf replied, still looking anywhere but at Stiles, and _come on_. Black Wolf was acting like Stiles had been the best thing he’d ever had, and Stiles hadn’t called him the next morning. He was completely and totally over reacting. It was a _kiss_ , not a marriage proposal.

“He invited all of Beacon Hills to come and watch the ‘duel.’” His words, not mine,” John said, still scowling. “And knowing how much this town _adores_ Gold Standard, it would probably be more work keeping them away from the fight than it would be to monitor it.” 

“So we’re going to _let_ the civilians stay and watch Jackson get slaughtered?” Stiles asked incredulously. “I mean as much as I would enjoy watching Gold Standard get his ass handed to him, I’d really rather not give Deucalion any new powers. He was hard enough to beat the last time we fought.” 

“What—you barely broke a sweat the last time,” Black Wolf shot back. Oh and _now_ he wanted to look at Stiles. Sometimes Black Wolf had serious problems in projecting how he was really feeling, but Stiles didn’t have to be an empath to pick up on the waves of confusion and annoyance coming off of him. 

“Clearly you know nothing about magic,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “I was asleep for like ten hours after that spell. Summoning that many golems in that little time takes a _lot_ out of me. Thankfully, they were able to take care of Deucalion quickly, because I don’t think I could have kept them together for much longer.” 

“So, what’s your point?”

“My _point_ , Sourwolf, is that if Deucalion steals Jackson’s powers, then that puts him at an advantage. You know Jackson’s powers stack up well against mine. He’s like a Green Lantern without the ring. Not to mention a lot more annoying. So if Deucalion takes Jackson’s powers, he’s not going to go down _nearly_ as easily as he did the other night.” 

“Which means that you two have to prevent Deucalion from taking Jackson’s powers at all costs, or the fight against Deucalion will be that much more difficult.”

“Fine,” Black Wolf said. “We’ll step in, handle Deucalion, and _this_ time I won’t let him get away. Simple as that.”

“You know that Jackson isn’t going to let us help him, though,” Stiles pointed out. “He’s been desperate to prove that he’s in our league since that time you and I helped the Fantastic Four with their Dr. Doom problem. He’s going to make up some ridiculous story about how this is his time to shine.” 

“So what you suggest we do?” Black Wolf asked. “Should we take Jackson down ourselves to make sure that Deucalion doesn’t? I can handle him alone if some people’s ‘powers don’t match up well with his,’” he added, shooting Stiles a look. “I have no problem with that, and we wouldn’t want Red Spark to get hurt now, would we?”

The Sheriff quirked an eyebrow as Stiles glared at Black Wolf, because seriously, where did this guy get off? This was not the time to be doing this. Stiles opened his mouth to say something, but he felt John’s hand on his shoulder, and he decided to save it for later.

“That’s probably not a good idea, Wolf. Especially since Jackson is a public figure as both himself and as Gold Standard. If either one of you took him out, no doubt it would be publicized and that would make it look like there was tension between us.”

“Not like there isn’t any tension already,” Stiles muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. “We’re all friends here.” 

“What was that, Spark?” Black Wolf growled, eyes flashing. “If you have something to say, why don’t you speak up so everyone can hear it?”

“Why waste my breath?” Stiles shot back. “Some of us have super hearing. Maybe you should pay more attention. But that’s not like you is it? You’re more of a claw first, ask questions later, huh? If it moves, attack it.”

“At least I get stuff done, instead of sit back and let little creatures do my dirty work for me.” 

“Oh, you mean the little creatures that _saved your life_ the other night?” Stiles asked viciously, grinning with savage pleasure when the red faded from Black Wolf’s irises. “Yeah, I wouldn’t talk about my golems like that if I were you.”

“I did not sign up for this. I just worked a double and I can’t deal with this right now,” John sighed, looking back and forth between Stiles and Black Wolf. “I’m going to go home, order a double cheeseburger and take a nap,” he said, almost daring Stiles to break his cover and call him on it. “If you two could sort out whatever sexual tension is going on between you and figure out a way to work together without kissing that would be great.”

“Wha… You know about that?” Black Wolf sputtered.

“I do read the paper, Wolf. Hard to miss my two top superheroes making out when it’s on the front page.” John clapped Stiles on the shoulder and waved to Black Wolf before walking out of the office.

“What’s _wrong_ with you?” Stiles exclaimed, once he and Black Wolf were alone. “Is it close to the full moon or something? Why are you acting more growly and angry than usual?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Black Wolf growled lowly, furthering Stiles’ point.

“Oh great, and now you’re deflecting,” Stiles said, throwing his hands up and rolling his eyes in exasperation. “Is this about the—of course it’s about the kiss.” 

“No, it’s not,” Black Wolf muttered, looking at the carpet like it somehow held all the answers.

“It can’t _not_ be about the kiss,” Stiles shot back. “Look, like I said at High Point, it was a good—it was a great kiss. You’re going to make someone very happy with your kissing skills, seriously. But it was just a kiss. It was a mistake and it won’t happen again.” 

“What if… What if I want it to happen again?” Black Wolf asked quietly, looking up at Stiles with a hopeful expression. “What if I said that it was more than just a kiss for me?”

Stiles jaw dropped. Because that came _completely_ out of left field. 

“What? No, no, _no_ ,” he said, shaking his head rapidly. “It was _just_ a kiss. Why would you think otherwise?" 

“For starters, _you_ kissed me,” Black Wolf pointed out. “And the little whimpers and whines you were making definitely made me think you enjoyed it.”

Stiles felt his face heat up as he started to remember the more intimate details of the kiss. Particularly the way Black Wolf’s tongue had felt in his mouth, hot and probing, and the low growls that Black Wolf had made in the back of his throat that just _did things_ to Stiles’ resolve.

“Also when we were kissing, your heart was beating much faster than normal, kind of like it is now.”

As much as Stiles could deny that there wasn’t anything behind the kiss, unfortunately there was nothing he could do about his traitorous heartbeat. Stiles knew that Black Wolf was right, and that the kiss _did_ mean something. He just wasn’t sure what it was.

Suddenly Black Wolf was right in his personal space, with an expression of pure _want_ on his face.

“You… I… it was just a kiss,” Stiles said weakly, voice barely above a whisper. “It had to have been.”

“Why, Spark?” Black Wolf asked softly, placing his hands on Stiles’ hips and squeezing slightly. Stiles’ let out a low moan at the contact. Even through his costume, he could feel the warmth of Black Wolf’s hands on his skin, like the belonged there. “What’s so wrong with kissing me?”

“I…”

“I know you enjoyed yourself,” Black Wolf said, hot breath ghosting across Stiles’ lips. “Don’t deny it.” 

“It was just a kiss,” Stiles murmured, trying to avoid Black Wolf’s piercing eyes. It was almost as if Stiles was drawn to him.

“Forget it,” Black Wolf sighed audibly. He turned away and started absentmindedly reading through files on the Sheriff’s desk. “Just a kiss. Got it.”

“No, you don’t get to do that,” Stiles said, grabbing Black Wolf by the shoulder and whirling him back around. “You don’t get to say that it was more than just a kiss and then tell me forget it. You’re supposed to growl at me and make your eyes change colors and all that wolfy stuff, and at least _call me_ on my bullshit. What gives?”

“I said _forget it_ ,” Black Wolf growled, eyes flashing. And Stiles rolled his eyes, because if Black Wolf thought that a little red eyes were going to get him to back down, he was sorely mistaken. Especially after Black Wolf was the one who was making such a big deal out of the whole thing. “I’m not going to do anything if you keep telling me no, even though we both know you want it. So just drop it.”

“Why is this such a big deal to you?” Stiles asked. “I feel like you’re taking this _way_ too personally. What’s so special about kissing me?”

Truthfully a large part of Stiles was expecting Black Wolf to turn on his heel and dramatically storm out of the office. Black Wolf was great at avoiding questions and ignoring them until they went away, especially if they were about his personal life. Another smaller part of Stiles expected Black Wolf to roll his eyes and mutter something about stupid magicians before discussing what to do about Jackson. 

What Stiles was _not_ expecting was for Black Wolf to grab his face and press their lips together in a bruising kiss. Black Wolf immediately forced his tongue into Stiles’ mouth, and Stiles felt his whole body go weak, because Black Wolf was _seriously too good_ at kissing. Stiles whimpered as he felt his knees go out, and the next thing he knew Black Wolf had lifted him up and pressed him up against a wall, and was nibbling on hungrily on his lower lip. Stiles wrapped his legs around Black Wolf’s waist and messily ran one of his hands through Black Wolf’s hair, drawing a low growl from the back of his throat. 

It was a _great_ kiss, without a doubt better than the first one. Black Wolf broke the kiss first, and Stiles whined at the loss of Black Wolf’s mouth, but Black Wolf grinned wickedly before diving back and latching on at the base of Stiles neck.

Stiles threw his head back with a groan and pulled at Black Wolf’s hair, as it was all he could do to keep himself from dissolving into a puddle of magical goo thanks to the ridiculously hot werewolf that was starting in on a massive hickey on his neck— _whoa._

“Okay, whoa, no, no, _no,_ ” Stiles said, shoving Black Wolf off of him. “ _How_ does this keep happening? And did you seriously just give me a _hickey?_ Are you kidding me?”

“It’s just a small one,” Black Wolf said sullenly, like he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to make it bigger. “Wear a collared shirt or something and no one will ever know.” 

“ _So_ not the point,” Stiles said venomously. “Why did you just kiss me?" 

“Because you were just talking about—why did you kiss me back?” Black Wolf said. “I thought the first one was a _mistake_ ,” he added bitterly. “You know what they say, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern.”

“No,” Stiles said, folding his arms in frustration. “You don’t get to answer a question with a question. And don’t spit preachy proverbs at me. _Why_ did you kiss me?”

Black Wolf growled lowly in warning, but Stiles didn’t back down and continued to stare down the glaring werewolf.

“I kissed you...because I wanted to,” Black Wolf said, finally.  “Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” Stiles said, refusing to be caught off guard, even if that was the last thing he had expected Black Wolf to say. “So now that we got that out of the way, what are we going to do about Jackson?”

Black Wolf opened his mouth like he wanted to say something else, but frowned and closed it instead. “I don’t know,” he said, quietly. “You’re the one who always comes up with all of the plans. Whatever you want to do, I’ll go along with.” 

Stiles knew he was being a little bit of a dick, but he wasn’t going to let Black Wolf’s sullen expression break his resolve. They had a job to do, and besides Stiles had to think of a way to stop Jackson and still have time for his date with Derek. 

“What time is Jackson vs Deucalion supposed to happen?” Stiles asked.

“I think he said something about eight o’clock sharp,” Black Wolf said. “But what if Deucalion doesn’t show?” 

Stiles snorted. “If Deucalion doesn’t show, I will be _shocked._ Jackson is basically giving away his powers, and I think we’ve figured out by now that Deucalion is definitely an opportunist. And since there’s no way that we can really stop this from happening, we’re just going to have to save Jackson at the last moment.”

“So like go undercover?”

“Unless we can convince Jackson to either call off the challenge or reschedule,” Stiles said, biting his lip thoughtfully. “Though I don’t see either of those happening.”

“Got a hot date on Friday?” Black Wolf asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Stiles shot back, picturing Derek and internally grinning as he watched the smirk melt off Black Wolf’s face. “And I really don’t want to miss it, but leave it to Jackson to ruin everything.” 

“Tell me about it,” Black Wolf growled. “I had a date on Friday too.”

“But if you had a date on—then why did you—no, nope, I’m forgetting that ever happened,” Stiles said.

“You never said why you kissed me back,” Black Wolf pointed out, the hopeful expression back on his face. 

“I—it was a good kiss. You’re a very good kisser,” Stiles said. “And we both know that I think you’re very attractive, wolf face or not. But this can’t happen again, and that’s got to be the end of that. We both have dates on Friday, assuming we can stop Jackson in time. It’s not fair to us or them if we keep doing this.” 

Black Wolf frowned, but nodded resolutely. “So the back up plan is to go undercover during the fight and save Jackson when he loses.”

“Right.”

“Fine,” Black Wolf said. “I’ll see you for patrol tomorrow night.” 

*** 

“ _Fuck me,”_ Stiles said as he looked in the mirror. “Is this a joke?”

“I thought kissing Black Wolf was a one time thing,” Scott said, noting the massive hickey at the base of Stiles’ neck. “That doesn’t look like a one time thing, that’s a big hickey. I mean, I’ve left some pretty big ones on Isaac, but _that_ one is _gigantic._ ”

“ _Thank you, Scott_ , I noticed,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes as he poked and prodded the hickey in the mirror. “Do we have any cold spoons in the freezer?”

“I don’t think so,” Scott said. “Can’t you heal it though? Why do you need a spoon?”

“I can’t heal wounds on myself,” Stiles explained. “One weakness of my magic. So I need a way to heal this before work.”

“Yeah, you’re not going to get rid of that in time for work. Maybe you could just put on a turtleneck? Or a scarf?”

“Yeah, because a turtleneck and scarf would look absolutely natural in eighty-five degree heat,” Stiles shot back. “I’m not Isaac.” 

“No, you’re not,” Scott said dreamily. 

“Hello, earth to Scott. Focus please,” Stiles said, snapping his fingers in Scott’s face. “You’re literally going to see Isaac in, like, thirty minutes. Which means I have thirty minutes to figure out a way to hide this from Derek. Black Wolf _would_ give me a hickey in the middle of my throat.”

“You’re not going to hide it, dude,” Scott said, wincing slightly. “Maybe Derek just won’t notice.” 

“Hopefully,” Stiles replied, poking the hickey in one final, desperate attempt to make it magically go away.

***

“Hey Derek, so I’ve got some bad news.”

Derek’s eyes zeroed immediately on Stiles’ neck and his eyes widened, which was exactly the reaction Stiles was trying to avoid. 

“Who—who gave that to you?” he asked slowly. He inhaled deeply and his brow furrowed in confusion. 

“Actually, I bought this half off at JCPenney,” Stiles said. “I know it looks a little raggedy and it’s a little warm to be wearing a turtleneck, but it’s more comfortable than anything and I really like the color—” 

“Stiles, I’m not talking about your shirt,” Derek said patiently. “I’m talking about that—thing—on your neck. It’s huge.” 

“Oh—this? I—don’t worry about it,” Stiles said. “My hot guy friend gave it to me. Completely unexpected. And it definitely wasn’t this big when he gave it to me. I think it grew overnight,” he said, noting the way Derek nodded, like it was all making sense. “But I told him that I wasn’t interested anymore because I had a date with you. I’m so sorry.” 

Derek continued to stare at the hickey like it was the biggest puzzle on the entire planet. 

“Your hot guy friend gave that to you? It’s impressive.” 

“I—yeah—I guess so,” Stiles said, lightly running his fingers across his throat. “But I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“But you don’t want to see your hot guy friend anymore,” Derek asked slowly. “You want to go on dates with me instead.”

“Yeah, that’s okay right?” Stiles asked meekly. “Look Derek, I know this looks bad. And I’m really sorry about it. But it won’t happen again, I promise." 

“It’s fine, Stiles, don’t worry about it,” Derek said. Which, _what_? Stiles didn’t think he would be so okay with it. “What did you want to tell me?” 

“Wha… Bad news, I—oh! I have to reschedule Friday’s date,” Stiles said. “I accidentally made plans that I can’t get out of. Please don’t hate me.”  

“It’s okay,” Derek said, still eyeing the hickey with a somewhat curious expression on his face. “I’m pretty sure I can find something to do. But we’re going to reschedule, right?” 

“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Stiles said, still a little taken aback at how easily Derek was dealing with the massive hickey on his neck. “I’ll let you know when I’m free again.” 

“Sounds good,” Derek purred. Then he leaned into Stiles’ neck and inhaled at the base of the hickey. “And maybe during our date, _I_ can give you a hickey that will put _this_ one to shame.”


	10. Chapter 10

Stiles was Red Spark.

 _Stiles_ was Red Spark.

_Stiles was Red Spark._

Derek was still reeling from this revelation. He had probably repeated it in his head about a thousand times, and it still blew his mind every time. _Stiles_ and _Red Spark_ were the _same_ person. Talk about a secret identity. Derek had a massive crush on Stiles, but at the same time, Derek thought that Red Spark might have been his mate. He had been torn between choosing one of them, but now it turned out that he probably wouldn’t have to.

He hadn’t believed his nose when he’d smelled his scent on Stiles’ hickey. The hickey not only smelled like him, but it had been in the exact same place that Derek had given Red Spark a hickey the previous night. Then Stiles had made up some silly story about the hickey coming from his ‘hot guy friend’ and it hadn’t taken long for Derek to add two and two together and get four.

 _He_ had been Stiles’ hot guy friend the entire time. Well not him specifically. _Black Wolf_ had been Stiles’ hot guy friend, but Stiles didn’t know that Derek Hale and Black Wolf were the same person. But now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense, and he was kicking himself for not figuring it out sooner.

It was kind of funny actually. Now that he knew that he was Stiles’ hot guy friend, he could laugh at himself for being so jealous. Stiles had been incredibly vague in describing his time with his ‘hot guy friend’, but now that Derek knew the truth, he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t been able to figure it out.

Red Spark didn’t know his name, so in turn Stiles wouldn’t know his name either, which was probably where ‘hot guy friend’ had come from.

Derek couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He was happier than he had been since his family had been alive.

“Derek, you’re smiling way more than usual. I’m afraid you’re going to start humming next,” Isaac said, cocking his head. “Did something happen at work today?”

“You could say that,” Derek answered. He debated telling Isaac about what he’d learned, but at the same time he needed to respect Stiles’ secret identity. Derek knew that he wouldn’t be happy if Isaac had gone blurting to Scott that he was Black Wolf. Once he and Stiles got together, he could introduce Isaac to Red Spark. 

But for now, Derek had to keep it to himself. 

“Stiles and I just had a really good talk today,” Derek said, struggling to keep from grinning even more. “He was completely cool with having to reschedule our date, but he definitely wants to go on one soon.” 

“Um, and you were okay with the massive hickey on his neck?” Isaac asked, eyebrows knitting together. “Because I know if Scott showed up to work with a hickey that size and I didn’t give to him, he would have to work _pretty_ fucking hard to make it up to me.” 

“I—we worked it out,” Derek said quietly, trying to diffuse the subject. Isaac had a slightly annoyed look on his face, and that usually meant that they were in for a long, drawn out conversation. “He explained himself, and he promised that it wouldn’t happen again.”

“Did his hot guy friend give it to him?” Isaac asked. “Because that’s not fair to you at all, Derek. I mean, I like Stiles a lot, but he needs to make up his mind. He can’t say that he wants to go on dates with you, and then go out the next night and hook up with his hot guy friend. You deserve better than that.” 

“I know,” Derek tried. “It’s fine, Isaac, really.”

Isaac leveled Derek with a look that indicated that he clearly wasn’t okay with the way things were turning out, but he sighed instead and wrapped his arms around Derek’s waist. 

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” Isaac murmured. “I’ll fight Stiles myself if I have to. I could take him.”

Derek snorted and pressed his nose into Isaac’s hair. He admired Isaac’s fierce family loyalty, but he knew that if Isaac and Stiles were to square off, Isaac wouldn’t stand a chance.

Stiles was a secret superhero. Isaac wasn’t.

Derek continued to hug Isaac for couple more minutes, rubbing his hands up and down Isaac’s back, but at the same time he was anxious to see Red Spark. It would be his first time on patrol with Red Spark _knowing_ that he was the hot guy friend that Stiles had talked about so fondly.

“Isaac, I have to go on patrol,” Derek said quietly. 

Isaac murmured something incoherent as his face was still pressed into Derek’s chest. Derek chuckled and squeezed Isaac a little tighter, and was rewarded with a soft sigh. 

“That means you kind of have to let go of me,” Derek said.

“Fine,” Isaac grumbled. “Be careful,” he said, looking Derek up and down. “It would suck for you to die before you and Stiles get to go on your second date.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “Really feeling the love.”

*** 

It was still a little early for Derek to be on patrol; in his haste to see Red Spark, he had left his apartment way earlier than usual. He still had about half and hour to kill, and he knew better than to patrol the city by himself, especially with what had happened to Catwoman and Stealth, so he decided to go hang out at the hospital. It had been a while since he had seen Melissa.

Derek quickly shifted out of his alpha form and stashed his leather jacket in the Camaro after grabbing a spare shirt. He had a feeling that walking into the hospital shirtless and as a werewolf wouldn’t be very well received, especially so early in the evening.

“Hi, Melissa,” he said, smiling as he walked into her office. “How are you?” 

“Jesus, Derek, you scared me,” Melissa said. “I will never understand how being a werewolf equates to moving silently. You’re not a cat.” 

“Natural predator,” Derek corrected, letting his eyes flash.

“What’s gotten into you?” Melissa said, quirking an eyebrow. “You have the biggest smile right now. I’ve never seen you—oh my God, you _finally_ figured it out.”

“What are you talking about?”

“On the _very_ small chance that I’m wrong, I’m not going to say it,” Melissa said, smirking. “But even though I _can_ believe that it took you guys this long to figure it out, I still didn’t think that _you_ would be the one to come to me first.”

Derek frowned for a couple of moments while he mulled Melissa’s words in his head. He searched her face for clues as he tried to think of things he had figured out since the last time he’d seen her. Other than looking like she was two milliseconds away from bursting into laughter, Melissa’s face betrayed nothing. It didn’t make any sense. The last time he’d seen Melissa, had been just after he’d gotten his ass kicked by Deucalion, and before that she had lectured him about giving Red Spark a chance. But the only thing noteworthy— _no way._  

“You _knew?_ ” Derek asked incredulously, once he recovered from the shock. “You knew this whole time?”

Based on the way Melissa burst out into laughter, Derek was sure that there was a shocked expression on his face. He quickly tried to glare Melissa into submission, but she took one look at him and laughed even harder. 

Because _of course_ Melissa knew. Derek knew he wasn’t the only superhero in Beacon Hills, and Melissa was bound to know the other heroes secret identities as well. So all those times he had come in complaining about Red Spark hitting on him and not knowing what to do about Stiles, Melissa had kept quiet, probably bursting into laughter as soon as Derek left, kind of like the way she was now.

“This is too good to be true,” she laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. “I was beginning to think you two would never figure it out and I would have to listen to both of you whine about unrequited love, but you guys finally got your acts together. But I gotta know, how did you figure it out?”

Derek blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “I gave Red Spark a hickey, and Stiles had a hickey on his neck that smelled like me the next day.”

Marissa doubled over in laughter again and this time it was a good couple of minutes before she re-composed herself, because every time she looked at Derek, she would have another little giggle fit. 

“That’s hilarious,” she said, once she finally got herself together. “So now that you two both know the truth, I guess you guys are going to save the city as the ‘dynamic duo in love’? I saw the pic in the newspaper,—I didn’t know that you guys had it in you.”

“About that…”

“Stiles doesn’t know does he?” Melissa asked, rolling her eyes. When Derek nervously rubbed the back of his neck she groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Of course he doesn’t. Because _that_ would be too easy. But what am I thinking? It’s you two. Nothing ever comes easy. It took you months to figure out that you were into each other, and Stiles still doesn’t know that you’re you.”

“It hasn’t been months,” Derek grumbled. 

“It’s been months, Derek,” Melissa repeated, rolling her eyes. “But I guess it’s good that Stiles doesn’t know the truth. At least for now. If he knew you were you, I can almost guarantee that you two would not get any work done for the next week, because Stiles wouldn’t let you get out of bed. He’s given me _very_ vivid details about what he wants to do to you.”

“To me?” Derek asked. “Or to—me?”

“To both of you,” Melissa said, eyes twinkling. “I think he has more plans for Derek than he does Black Wolf, but once he finds out they’re one in the same, I’m pretty sure his plans are going to double.” 

Derek felt his face heat up in embarrassment? Pride? He wasn’t sure. On one hand he was flattered that Stiles had ‘plans’ for him, but on the other hand he was a little flustered that Melissa knew what these plans were and he didn’t. 

“Oh relax, Derek. Don’t take it personally,” Melissa said. “He probably didn’t have anyone else to tell about it. Scott was probably on a date with Isaac, and you know his dad probably doesn’t want to hear about his son’s sexual fantasies.” 

Derek’s eyes widened. “Stiles talks to Scott about me, and the Sheriff is Stiles’ dad—the Sheriff knows that—fuck. How is this my life?”

“You have to admit that it’s kind of funny,” Melissa replied, starting to chuckle again. “But think of it this way–once everything is all clear, it’s going to be so much better. No more questioning how you feel or anything.” 

“You’ve been enjoying this way too much, haven’t you?” 

“You have no _idea,_ ” Melissa said. “I don’t think being a superhero nurse will be as much fun now that I can’t listen to the two of you pine over each other, but I’ve had my fun.” 

“I’m so happy for you,” Derek deadpanned. 

“Oh, come on, Derek, don’t be like that,” Melissa said. “I’m beginning to see why Stiles calls you Sourwolf.”

Derek growled lowly at the mention of the annoying nickname. “’M not a sourwolf.” 

“Of course you’re not,” Melissa replied, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, it’s getting late. Don’t you have patrol or something?”

“Yeah, with Stiles,” Derek said. “You’re sure I can’t just tell him? Doesn’t he deserve to know?”

“He’s lasted this long without knowing—he can last until the end of this Deucalion shebang,” Melissa pointed out. “And at least this way, since you know and he doesn’t, you can have all the fun that I’ve been having.” 

***

Derek howled as leapt onto the highest rooftop in Beacon Hills. He smiled to himself as his eyes swept over his city. Sometimes in his effort to keep it safe, he didn’t take the time out to appreciate its beauty. It kept him grounded, and in a way, it kind of reminded him that what he was doing was a good thing. 

“Sourwolf!”

Derek turned his head and saw that Red— _Stiles_ was floating in front of him with an annoyed expression on his face. Derek had to fight the grin that was threatening to spread across his own face as he remembered Melissa’s words. As soon as they took care of Deucalion, Derek could have his way with Stiles.

Or Stiles could have his way with him. It didn’t matter; Derek wasn’t picky.

But that didn’t mean that Derek couldn’t have a little bit of fun.

“Hey Spark,” Derek purred, enjoying the way Stiles’ heartbeat quickened. “Long time, no see.”

“No, no, _no._ Do _not_ try to seduce me right now,” Stiles said. He landed directly in front of Derek and glared up at him, before tilting his neck to show Derek the massive hickey on the side of it. “Look at this. Look at what you fucking did to me.”

“That’s a pretty big hickey,” Derek noted, leaning in and inhaling. Sure enough, the hickey still held a little bit of his scent, and Derek was secretly happy that no one was marking Stiles but him. “You’re sure I gave it to you? I thought you had a hot date with the guy from your office. You’re sure he didn’t give it to you?” 

“No, he _didn’t_ ,” Stiles said, shoving Derek away from him. “Because he’s respectful and he doesn’t force himself on me with his big muscles like some people we could name.” 

Derek noted the way that Stiles kept sneaking glances at his lips and biceps. Melissa was right; this _was_ fun. And now that Derek knew the truth about everything, he wasn’t above teasing Stiles just a little bit. 

“Oh really?” he asked in mock thoughtfulness. He shed his jacket and folded his arms across his chest. Stiles’ heartbeat quickened even more as he flexed the muscles in his chest and arms, and Derek preened on the inside. “So you like big muscles?”

“I—maybe,” Stiles replied, licking his lips. “But that’s not the point right now. _You_ have to stop being so stupidly attractive so I can forget how hot you are and date the guy in my office.” 

“You think I’m hot?” Derek asked, taking a step closer to Stiles. “Really?”

“Shut up,” Stiles retorted. “You’re a werewolf, you know I think you’re hot. You can probably smell it all over me. But I’m trying to be a better person, and I promised the guy in my office that nothing like that would ever happen between you and me again.” Stiles dropped his head as he muttered the last part of the sentence, but he looked back up at Derek with a somber expression on his face. “So I’m _really_ asking you to lay off, for a little bit.” 

Derek took a step back. It just now dawned on him that Stiles had probably been dealing with the same problems that he had, wrestling with his attraction to two different people in his separate lifestyles. And Derek wasn’t really doing a good job of helping him out right now. 

“You really like this guy in your office, huh?” Derek asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Stiles said, nodding slightly. “He’s great. I think you two would get along actually. Who knows?”

“Maybe,” Derek answered. “But if he means that much to you, then I’ll back off.” He tried to look defeated, but on the inside he was happy that Stiles was willing to date him instead of—him. If Derek had to choose, he was pretty sure he would rather date Stiles than Red Spark, too.

Stiles the person intrigued him more than Stiles the superhero. 

“But that doesn’t mean that we can’t be friends, right?” Stiles asked quietly. “I mean I see you almost every night, and I don’t want us to lose our friendship over this.”

“Of course we can be friends, Spark,” Derek said reassuringly. 

“Friends who hug?” Stiles asked.

Derek rolled his eyes and opened his arms, smiling to himself as Stiles folded himself into his embrace. Stiles rested his head against Derek’s chest, and Derek could hear Stiles’ heartbeat slow down in contentment. Derek tightened his grip on Stiles ever so slightly and Stiles let out a soft sigh. 

“For the record, I totally love you, Sourwolf,” Stiles murmured against Derek’s chest. “And if it wasn’t for the guy in my office, I could definitely see myself dating you.”

Derek snorted and pressed a kiss to the top of Stiles’ head. _I love you too_. He almost said, but he decided that he would save that confession for when Stiles knew the truth.

“Well isn’t this a sweet scene? You guys go from making out on High Point to hugging on rooftops. What a romantic relationship. If it wasn’t so pathetic, I’d almost be a jealous.”

At the sound of Jackson’s voice, Stiles pushed himself away from Derek and glared at Jackson. Derek would’ve been lying if he said he didn’t miss the feeling of Stiles’ body pressed against his own. Instead he turned to Jackson, let his eyes flash and growled low and threatening.

“What do you want, Jackson?”

“Funny you should ask that, Spark,” Jackson sneered. “I’m just out for a late night fly. You know, going from window to window, letting the citizens of Beacon Hills know the most attractive hero is watching over them as they sleep. Besides, it’s not like I really have anything to worry about. Deucalion probably isn’t that strong at all. If anything I’m worried that you two haven’t taken him down yet. But I guess it just speaks to how lame you guys have become.”

“I almost want him to get his powers stolen,” Derek muttered, just low enough for Stiles to hear. Stiles snorted in agreement. 

“Dude, Jackson, Black Wolf and I have already fought Deucalion,” Stiles said. “And the dude’s a handful. I know you _think_ you’re the greatest superhero that Beacon Hills has ever seen, but if you go up against Deucalion one-on-one, you’re going to get creamed. There’s a reason why we’ve tried to keep this under wraps. Because—”

“Because you’re weak,” Jackson cut in. “Both of you are. And you’re too cowardly to face him head on. When the Sheriff told me that you guys had been trying to take him down for _weeks_ , I thought he was joking. How are you two supposed to be the top two heroes if you guys can’t even take care of _one_ bad guy?”

“Jackson,” Derek growled threateningly.

“Uh oh, watch out, here come the red eyes,” Jackson said sarcastically. “Just because you’re a werewolf, doesn’t mean you intimidate me, Black Wolf. I could beat you one-one-one and you know it.” 

“Oh really?” Derek asked, stepping in front of Stiles and flexing his claws. “You want to test that theory?” 

“No, no, no,” Stiles said, jumping in between Derek and Jackson and spreading his arms out. “I’m not going to sit back and watch you two play Alpha Male Smackdown while Deucalion’s still on the loose. You two are more than welcome to bash each other’s heads in on your own time, but not right now.” 

Derek growled lowly, but retracted his claws and stood behind Stiles. It didn’t stop him from glaring at Jackson, who looked like he still wanted to fight.

“Great,” Stiles said, once Jackson had relaxed as well. “Look, Jackson, you need to call off this fight against Deucalion. He’s too dangerous and if you go down, that just makes it that much harder for Black Wolf and I to clean up your mess.”

“You think I’m going to get my powers stolen?” Jackson asked, raising both eyebrows. “That’s a laugh. Remember the last time that you and I fought, Spark? How easily did I beat you?” 

Stiles shrugged. “So you’re largely immune to my magic, big deal. Too bad I’m not a crazy super villain, or you would have stopped me already. The point is, even if you’re immune to magic, I _guarantee_ that Deucalion has a trick up his sleeve for you. When Black Wolf and I fought him, the only reason we were able to win is because I used a different kind of magic than I usually do and he wasn’t expecting it. You don’t have that luxury.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Really?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t remember your infamous press conference announcing that you, Jackson Whittemore, were the dashing young man behind the superhero, Gold Standard? That doesn’t ring any bells?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” 

“I mean, you basically gave everyone in Beacon Hills a play-by-play of all of your powers in that press conference,” Stiles pointed out. “And don’t tell me that you were saving some powers for later, because you wouldn’t do that. You wanted _everyone_ to know how great you were, so you put all your powers on display.”

“Still not seeing the point here.” 

“Can he be any more dense?” Stiles asked, turning to Derek. 

Derek chuckled as Jackson made an indignant noise.

“The _point_ is that if you think that Deucalion doesn’t have a tape of that documentary and detailed notes of how to avoid and nullify every one of your powers, you’re dumber than I thought. The guy plans _ahead_ and you’re no match for him.”

“Just because he has theories on how to avoid my powers doesn’t mean he can actually _execute_ them,” Jackson shot back. “He hasn’t face the real thing. He hasn’t faced the _Gold Standard._ ”

“Oh my—I wasn’t sure if I disliked or hated your name, but that sure did it,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “That was the worst pun I have ever heard and I officially hate your name."

“Whatever,” Jackson sneered. “Whether you like it or not, you know I’m right.”

“No, you’re not,” Stiles said. “When you ‘scrimmaged’ with Wolfman here, he had you on your back with your throat exposed in about thirty seconds and he didn’t even need to watch the press conference.”

“So?”

“And when Black Wolf fought Deucalion, Deucalion _dismantled_ him. I hate to say it but Black Wolf never stood a chance.”

Derek growled at the memory of fighting Deucalion, but Jackson simply snorted and shrugged his shoulders. 

“And you’re saying, since Black Wolf didn’t stand a chance, I _certainly_ don’t stand a chance.”

Stiles and Derek both nodded, although somewhat reluctantly on Derek’s part. He still wanted another one-on-one shot with Deucalion.

“Sorry, but that’s bullshit,” Jackson said, surprising absolutely no one. “Maybe Black Wolf just had an off day or something. You’re not going to convince me to call of this fight against Deucalion. And when I win, I will be the greatest superhero Beacon Hills has ever seen. See you two on Friday.”


	11. Chapter 11

It was Friday and Stiles was really tired. 

Scratch that. 

Stiles was _exhausted._

He and Black Wolf had spent all week trying to convince Jackson to call off his fight with Deucalion, even though Jackson had vehemently refused every time. As much as Stiles disliked Jackson, he really didn’t want to see him embarrassed in front of everyone in Beacon Hills. 

Okay, so maybe he wanted to see Jackson embarrassed a little bit, but Stiles would rather he be the one embarrassing him, not a crazy super villain. But at this point, Stiles was so tired of trying to convince Jackson to cancel the fight that he almost didn’t care what happened to him.

On one hand Stiles half-hoped that Jackson would get his powers stolen. It would make his and Black Wolf’s lives _so_ much easier if they didn’t have to deal with Gold Standard’s ridiculous attitude problem. But on the other hand Stiles knew that if Deucalion was able to steal Jackson’s powers, then his and Black Wolf’s lives were going to be that much more difficult. 

Leave it to Jackson to make everyone’s miserable. 

It also didn’t help that Stiles was just a _little_ bit sexually frustrated, and had spent more than one night thinking about the things he wanted to do Derek. Or things he wanted Derek to do to him.

They had been “together”, for lack of a better term, since Monday, but for some reason, Derek wanted to take things slow. 

And by slow, he obviously meant _really_ slow. 

Derek wanted to show Stiles that he was in it for the long run—or something. Stiles hadn’t really been paying attention to what Derek had been saying because he had been a little distracted by how _hot_ Derek was and that they had _finally_ gotten their shit straightened out, but he was pretty sure he had gotten the gist of the conversation. Derek wanted to prove to Stiles that he really liked him and wasn’t just in it for the sex.

Which Stiles could understand. In fact, Stiles was all for waiting for sexytimez, but Derek hadn’t even _kissed_ him yet. Every time Stiles tried to sneak one in, Derek would avoid it at the last minute with a playful smirk. It was almost like he knew they were coming and that that Stiles would melt into a puddle of goo the moment it happened. 

So it was definitely a little frustrating. ‘Together’ for a week and so far all they had done was hug. Granted, they had been really great hugs; behind all of the glorious muscle, Derek was surprisingly comfortable. But Stiles really needed to get his mouth on some part of Derek, or he was going to explode. 

“Are you ready for tonight?” Scott asked quietly as they walked into the office. “It’s kind of a big deal.” 

“Dude, tell me about it,” Stiles muttered. “Part of me wishes that Deucalion had already taken my powers so I wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.” 

“Did you ever find anything out about him? Scott asked. “Any police reports of his weaknesses or anything?”

“Nothing,” Stiles replied. “This is the first time that I’ve researched someone so extensively and come up with so little information. Everything that was posted online, I found out within ten seconds of fighting him myself. The dude’s a mystery. I’m basically going in blind.” 

“Well, at least you did some damage the last time you guys fought, right?” Scott asked. “Maybe you’re in his head a little bit.” 

“I sure hope so,” Stiles answered. “But the trouble with being a high-profile superhero is there’s tons of stuff on me. I’m sure he went and found fifteen new ways to beat me as soon as he got away.”

“You’ll be fine, dude,” Scott reassured. “You’re Red Spark.” 

“I wish that was as comforting for me as it was for you,” Stiles smirked. 

“Hey guys,” Lydia greet warmly. She had a clipboard in her hand and a pencil tucked behind her ear. “By any chance do you guys want to put any money down for the fight this weekend?” 

“I…what?” 

“The fight? Between Gold Standard and Deucalion?” Lydia said, looking at Scott like he had grown two heads. “We’re starting a pool in the office; who wins, how many broken bones there will be, the usual.”

“Are you actually going to watch, Lydia?” Stiles asked. “Really?” 

“Of course I am,” Lydia answered haughtily. “I know you had your heart broken when you saw that picture of Red Spark and Black Wolf making out, but I’ve always thought that Gold Standard was hotter than both of them. And I’m not going to miss him save the day.” 

“You would,” Stiles muttered, fighting off the urge to roll his eyes. “How many people have put money down?” 

“Almost the entire office,” Lydia answered, checking her clipboard. “I have at least ten dollars from everyone, so it looks like the grand prize is gonna be about two hundred dollars.” 

Stiles’ eyes widened and he looked around the office at his co-workers. None of them seemed to be doing any work, and instead were huddled together in groups of four or five, seemingly discussing the fight. Stiles checked the TV screen and was surprised to find that the local news was running an all-day newscast about the build up to the fight.

Stiles internally rolled his eyes. Everyone was making such a big out of it, but they had no idea how much of a wash it was going to be. He knew that the fight was going to get a lot of attention, but he had no idea that it was going to be _this_ popular. 

“Wow… I didn’t know that everyone was placing bets,” Scott said quietly. 

“Well, not everyone,” Lydia said, rolling her eyes. “Derek and Isaac didn’t want to place bets. I don’t know why.” 

“Where are they?” 

“Over there,” Lydia said, pointing to them. 

Derek and Isaac were in a corner of the room, talking quietly to each other. Isaac had a nervous look on his face, and seemed like he didn’t want to let Derek out of his sight, which wasn’t that unusual, but there seemed to be an air of desperation surrounding him now. Meanwhile Derek looked like he wanted to be anywhere else on the planet. Maybe they were a little more emotionally invested in the fight than they had let on. 

“Maybe you guys can convince them?” Lydia suggested. “I know you and Derek have been getting pretty close,” she added, nudging Stiles and smirking at him. 

“We’ll see,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes, but he and Scott made their way over to Derek and Isaac. 

Isaac brightened up at seeing Scott, but still seemed reluctant to leave Derek’s side. Derek squeezed his hand and whispered something in his ear and Isaac eventually went over and hugged Scott tightly. 

Scott seemed to recognize that Isaac was a little frazzled and led them both away, presumably to the break room. 

“Hey,” Stiles said, taking Isaac’s spot next to Derek. He rested his head on Derek’s shoulder and patted Derek’s thigh. “Are you okay? You guys looked a little stressed.”

“We’re fine,” Derek gritted out. “Isaac’s just a little nervous for the fight tonight. You know how sensitive he is. He’s not really a fan of violence and he just thinks the worst is going to happen.” 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“He’s never been a fan of Jackson,” Derek said. “He thinks he’s going to lose tonight, and then Deucalion is going to run loose on the town.” 

“Oh… Well, I’m sure that there’s going to be back-up,” Stiles said. “My dad and his men have been prepping for this all week. I think my dad is even going to bring extra men in case things get ugly. Plus I know that Red Spark and Black Wolf will be on hand, so that’s got to be reassuring.” 

“I know,” Derek answered, and it looked like he was smirking just a little bit. “And Isaac knows, too. He’s just over-reacting a little bit. Scott should be able to calm him down, though.” 

“Yeah, they’re good together,” Stiles agreed. “I think we’re good together too. I… I like what we’ve been doing so far. It sucks that we both have things to do tonight, because I really wish we could’ve spent time together. I mean, I know there’s the fight and everything, but I’d really rather spend some time with you.” 

“Me too,” Derek said, reaching down and taking Stiles’ hand. “I’ll take you out soon, I promise.” 

“What if I wanted to take you out?” Stiles teased. “Just because you’re all muscles and eyebrows doesn’t mean I can’t woo you.” 

“Of course,” Derek said, raising an eyebrow. He smirked and leaned more into Stiles’ body. “I’ll let you woo me all you want.”

***

“You know staring at me isn’t going to do anything, Isaac,” Derek sighed as he pulled on his leather jacket. “Everything’s going to be fine, I promise.” 

“I know,” Isaac said quietly. “But Deucalion put you in the _hospital_ , Derek. “And you’re going right back out there to fight him. How is this time going to be any different?” 

Derek closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. As much as he had tried to forget about it, Isaac was right. The last time they fought, Deucalion had beaten him with ease, and Derek still had no idea how to fight him more effectively. He and Stiles had been putting in some extra practice during patrols, but knowing that Stiles favored fire spells when he was on the offensive and earth spells when he was on the defensive wasn’t going to help him fight Deucalion. 

Derek didn’t want to admit it, but he was apprehensive about the fight tonight. 

“It’ll be fine, Isaac,” he said reassuringly, walking over and pulling Isaac into a tight hug. “What did I tell you earlier?” 

“You told me that you would never leave me alone,” Isaac whispered into Derek’s chest. “No matter what.” 

“And I won’t,” Derek said, pressing his nose into Isaac’s curls, drawing comfort from the soft sweetness of his scent. “I’ll be fine, Isaac. I swear.” 

That seemed to placate Isaac for a little bit, and Derek enjoyed the comfortable silence between them. 

“You’re sure you guys just can’t let Jackson get his powers stolen?” Isaac murmured after a while. “I know how much you don’t like him.” 

Derek snorted and rolled his eyes. “Trust me, I’d like that. But that would just make it that much harder to beat Deucalion.” 

“You’re sure you can’t call in the Justice League or the Avengers?” Isaac asked. “Doesn’t Cyclops owe you a favor or something?”

“We’ll be _fine_ , Isaac,” Derek said. “If we can’t handle one super villain by ourselves, then we have a problem. And Cyclops is part of the X-men, remember?” 

“Oh right,” Isaac said, smiling sheepishly. “Well maybe you can just let Jackson get beaten up and then jump in and save him at the very last minute. How’s that sound?” 

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do anyway,” Derek said. “Especially since Jackson threatened to attack us himself if Spark and I interfered. And we don’t want to give Deucalion any more help than he gives himself. So we’re hoping that Jackson at least tires him out a little bit so it’ll be a little easier.” 

“But you’re not really planning on that happening?”

“Not really,” Derek chuckled. “I think Deucalion is going to make Jackson look like an amateur. Which is just going to make our job that much more difficult.” 

“Yeah, I thought so,” Isaac said. “Just promise me you’ll be careful. Please, Derek.” 

“I promise,” Derek said, relaxing as Isaac squeezed him tightly. “Are you going to be there tonight?” 

“I think so. I know Scott wants to go, so I guess I’ll go with him.” 

“Okay,” Derek said. His phone buzzed and he opened it to find a message from the Sheriff. 

_Showtime._

***

“I just texted Black Wolf. He’s on his way,” John said, coming up and squeezing Stiles’ shoulder. “I still can’t believe that this is actually happening.”

“Tell me about it,” Stiles said lowly, taking a sweeping look of the stadium. “I mean, I knew this was going to be a popular event, but I didn’t realize that it was going to be this popular. I’m a little jealous that more people showed up to watch Jackson fight than people who came to watch us play lacrosse. Definitely a capacity crowd on hand tonight.”

“That might be putting it lightly,” John pointed out. 

And he was right. The stadium was _packed_. There were easily a couple thousand people here. The bleachers were completely and totally full, and there were still people trying to squeeze into them. Others were mulling about around on the edges of the field, trying to get the best view possible without being in the line of fire. 

There were several news vans on hand and all of the cameramen had their cameras pointing at Jackson, who was floating around in one of the end zones, entertaining the crowd with his powers. 

“So, where do you think Deucalion is?” John asked. 

“I don’t know,” Stiles answered. “Probably drinking tea or something. Given how easily he defeated Black Wolf, he shouldn’t be worried about Jackson at all. But the bigger question is why are there so many people here?” 

“You know how persuasive Jackson can be,” John said, rolling his eyes. “He’s got the people of Beacon Hills eating out of the palm of his hand. If he said ‘jump’, they would all say ‘how high.’ But what bothers me is how casual everyone is. I saw one family with a picnic basket.” 

“Yeah, I don’t think they know how dangerous it is to be here,” Stiles said. “Jackson made it seem like it was going to be like a boxing match, but these people don’t know that their lives depend on whether or not we take down Deucalion tonight.” 

“When you say we, you mean…?” 

“Me and Black Wolf, duh,” Stiles snorted. “Jackson’s good, but Deucalion’s gonna wipe the floor with him. So that means that Black Wolf and I have clean up duty. As usual.” 

John chuckled and clapped Stiles on the back. “I know I don’t tell you this nearly enough, but I’m proud of you, Stiles. I can’t say that I ever imagined that I would have a superhero for a son, but I couldn’t be more proud. And your mother… She would be proud too.” 

“Thanks Dad,” Stiles said quietly. “Just trying to do what she would’ve done, ya know?” 

“She probably would’ve fought Jackson and Deucalion at the same time,” John mused thoughtfully. “And she probably would’ve had spare time to cast a charm to get dinner started.” 

“Sounds about right,” Stiles replied. “She was pretty great.” 

“Don’t sell yourself short, you’re a great hero too,” John said. “I haven’t had many chances to watch you in action, so a small part of me is really excited to watch you in your element. I want to see you kick some ass. It’s not every day that a dad can watch his son save the city.” 

“Yeah, well that’s the plan,” Stiles said, grinning. He took a deep breath and took another look out on the field. Now Jackson had a line set up and was taking pictures with eager fans. 

“Security looks good,” Stiles said, noting the array of squad cars surrounding the perimeter of the field and the numerous cops roaming around the grounds. “Do they know what they’re up against?” 

“Well they know he’s dangerous,” John snorted. “Whether or not they know how dangerous is another story. But they’re well trained and have dealt with super villains before so they’ll be good at doing crowd control if things get out of hand.” 

“They’re a little far back for that, don’t you think? I still can’t believe you weren’t able to get this whole thing shut down. You’re the Sheriff. You should be able to do that.” 

“Believe me, I tried,” John said, running a hand over his face. “But we knew that there would be a ridiculous amount of public outcry, especially since Jackson is so popular. And he would probably make another press conference trashing the Sheriff’s department, and that would be the last thing we’d need. I hate to say this, but this was probably the only way to do this, given the cards we were dealt.” 

“All thanks to Jackson,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “I just want something to happen already. Can Deucalion just get here?” 

“Eager, are we?” 

“Holy… Can you not?” Stiles asked, glaring as Black Wolf emerged from the shadows. “I almost fried you.” 

Black Wolf smirked and stood behind Stiles and John and looked out onto the field. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Jackson strutting around the sideline. “It’s still early. Jackson said that it was supposed to start at eight, and it’s only seven forty-five.” 

“So you’re saying that Deucalion is punctual?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“He probably wants as many people here as possible so he can show off,” Black Wolf said. “That’s what I would do if I was a super villain.” 

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not,” Stiles said. “Because then we would be enemies instead of friends.” 

A funny look appeared on Black Wolf’s face, but eventually he rolled his eyes and smiled. “I guess you’re right,” he said. “Good thing for you, too.” 

Stiles faked an incredulous look and brought one hand over his heart. “Are you implying that you could beat me in a fight, Sourwolf? Because I’m gonna have to disagree with you on that.” 

Black Wolf flashed his eyes and growled playfully, and in response Stiles let his eyes glow just a little bit. 

“If you two could save your flirting for later, you might notice that our guest of honor is here,” John said, pointing to the stadium. 

Stiles narrowed his eyes as Deucalion walked into view. He nodded slightly as he took in his surroundings. Once he locked eyes with Stiles and Black Wolf, a smirk appeared on his face and he waved at both of them. 

“So this is a warm-up, right?” he called from across the stadium. “You two don’t really expect this wannabe to be able to defeat me, do you?” 

Black Wolf growled lowly and took a step forward, but stopped when Stiles placed a hand on his shoulder. “Not yet,” he hissed. “At least give Jackson a fighting chance.” 

Speaking of Jackson, he unsurprisingly didn’t take well to being called a wannabe.

“Deucalion! You finally showed up. I was beginning to think you’d gotten scared and backed out,” he called, flying over and landing about ten feet in front of Deucalion. “It’s about time someone put you in your place.” 

“And I suppose that person is you?” Deucalion drawled lazily. “You’re the one who put all this together?” 

“That’s right,” Jackson said, puffing his chest out proudly. “I’m the one who’s going to take you down.” 

“Well for your sake, I hope so,” Deucalion said dismissively. “It would be horribly embarrassing for you to get your powers stolen in front of all your adoring fans. Of course that’s what’s going to happen if you don’t stand down right now. I’m not here for you. Your powers don’t interest me anymore. I’m here for them,” he said, looking past Jackson and locking eyes with Stiles and Black Wolf. 

Stiles glared right back and he felt Black Wolf tense beside him. 

Clearly angry at being ignored, Jackson stepped in front of Deucalion, blocking Stiles and Black Wolf from his line of vision. “You’ve got guts, man. I’ll give you that,” he said. “But to get to them, you have to go through me.” 

“Fine,” Deucalion sighed. “If that’s the way you want to play it, I’ll indulge your little fantasy. Let’s go.” 

***

Thirty seconds into the fight, Derek knew that Jackson was hopelessly outmatched. 

Derek had fought Deucalion before, and he knew from experience that Deucalion liked to take the fight to his opponent. He was very aggressive, but also very methodical in his approach as well. He didn’t make any moves without weighing the consequences and as a result that made him a very dangerous opponent. Derek could still vividly remember how much it had hurt when Deucalion had punched him across the face. 

But now Deucalion was toying with Jackson. He was allowing Jackson dictate the pace of the fight, and while he wasn’t letting any of Jackson’s attacks actually connect, his own attacks were so bad, to the untrained eye it looked like Jackson was actually winning the fight. 

“He’s giving him false confidence,” Stiles hissed. He watched as Deucalion finally let himself be ‘hit’ by one of Jackson’s energy blasts and listened as the crowd went wild. “Wolf, we’ve got to stop this before Jackson gets killed.” 

“I know,” Derek growled. “But as soon as one of us step onto that field, Jackson’s going to attack us, and I don’t feel like fighting both Jackson _and_ Deucalion.” 

“Fuck,” Stiles hissed. “This isn’t going to end well.” 

Completely oblivious to the fact that he was being conned and brimming with confidence, Jackson started to switch from long range attacks to short bursts of hand to hand combat. 

“No, Jackson. No, no, no,” Stiles moaned holding his head in his hands. “Stay back. Stick to what you know. Don’t let him draw you in.” 

“What are you talking about?” Derek asked, looking on as Jackson caught Deucalion with a right hook to the ribs. It didn’t look like much, but Deucalion faked his reaction well, doubling over and allowing Jackson to toss him halfway across the stadium. 

“Jackson’s like a Green Lantern without the ring,” Stiles explained. “He can channel his energy into anything he wants it to be. So long range attacks tend to be his preferred method. But if he’s trying to beat Deucalion this way, it’s only a matter of time before Deucalion finally calls an end to this.” 

The crowd was starting to get more and more animated, as Jackson seemed to take control of the fight. He was pressing Deucalion at every turn and as much as Derek wanted to believe that Jackson was actually winning, he knew it was only a matter of time before Deucalion got bored. 

Meanwhile Jackson was now starting to smack talk as he continued his ‘assault’ on Deucalion. 

“I can’t believe that Red Spark and Black Wolf had such a hard time with you,” Jackson said, planting a kick to the back of Deucalion’s knees. “My sister puts up more of a fight than you, and I don’t even have a sister.” 

He grabbed Deucalion’s arm and flung him into the sky. Jackson flew up and tackled him in mid-air, forcefully throwing him onto the ground. Deucalion hit the earth with a crash, and it looked like he was down for the count, but Derek knew better. He was playing possum, allowing Erica’s healing factor to take effect before he took control of the fight. 

Meanwhile the crowd was going wild, completely oblivious to what Deucalion was doing. Derek looked around and saw that even the cops and the security guards were nodding in appreciation. Derek snorted and turned back to Jackson and Deucalion. Everyone was in for a rude awakening very soon. 

“This is the turning point,” he muttered to Stiles. “Get ready to jump in any moment.” 

Beside him Stiles nodded minutely and his eyes and hands started to glow with magic in anticipation. 

“I am the greatest hero Beacon Hills has ever seen!” Jackson proclaimed loudly as Deucalion ‘staggered’ to his feet. The crowd cheered in response and that only seemed to egg him on more. “Black Wolf and Red Spark aren’t even in my league! I’m the top dog here in Beacon Hills!” 

Deucalion had finally ‘managed’ to stand straight up, but he was swaying back and forth to make it look like he was still out of it. 

“And you,” Jackson said, smirking at Deucalion. “It’s time that you learned what happens to people who mess with my city!”

Jackson lunged and tried to punch Deucalion in the face, but Deucalion caught his fist at the last second and grinned wickedly. 

“I think that’s enough for now,” he said. “You’ve had your fun, and I think it’s time that I made an example out of you.” 

“What… Let go of me,” Jackson said, struggling against Deucalion’s grip. “How are you… You were barely standing a minute ago.” 

“Oh please,” Deucalion snorted. “You honestly believe that those little love taps you were doing actually hurt me? I beat Black Wolf to a pulp and he still put up a better fight than you.” 

Derek didn’t know whether to be proud or not of the fact that Deucalion thought that he was stronger than Jackson. It was like a backhanded compliment, considering how easily Deucalion had beaten them both. 

“Let me go!” Jackson said again. 

“I thought you were Beacon Hills’ greatest superhero,” Deucalion mocked. “You had the crowd completely in your corner. What happened to them?” 

Derek looked and saw that the crowd was dead silent. Many of them were covering their mouths with their hands in complete shock at how quickly the fight had turned around. Derek quickly zeroed in on Isaac, who was sitting with Scott and the rest of their co-workers towards the front of the stadium. Isaac had a pained look on his face and was gripping Scott’s shoulder tightly. 

More than anything, Derek wanted to go and comfort him, but he knew he had to stay in character in the increasingly likely chance that things were going to go south. Isaac locked eyes with Derek, and his expression crumpled and as much as it hurt, the only thing Derek could do was offer him a small reassuring smile. Isaac seemed to get the point and took a deep breath before turning back to Jackson. 

Jackson continued to struggle, but Derek knew that he wasn’t going to get anywhere. Deucalion was strong, and even Derek hadn’t been able to break free of his grip with his enhanced strength. 

“I guess it’s time you realized why Black Wolf and Red Spark were having such a hard time with me,” Deucalion said. 

He punched Jackson square in the chest and Derek winced as Jackson went flying across the stadium. He bounced a couple times off the grass and then skidded a couple more feet before finally crumpling in a fetal position. 

“Oh, you can’t be done after one hit,” Deucalion said, yanking Jackson up by his hair. “Black Wolf took that punch like a champ and he even came back for more. I thought you said that you were the top superhero in this town? You can’t even take a punch.” 

The sadistic smirk appeared back on Derek’s face as he jerked Jackson’s head back. “Come on,” he taunted. “What happened to that big burst of confidence you had earlier?”

“Jackson let us help you!” Stiles called, stepping onto the field. “You can’t win this!” 

“Stay out of this, Spark!” Jackson shouted back. “I can handle it on my own!” 

“Keep telling yourself that,” Deucalion said, rolling his eyes. He slammed Jackson’s head in the ground and planted a vicious kick at his ribs. Derek didn’t know much about human physiology, but given the bone-crunching sound that reverberated through the stadium, he was pretty sure that Jackson’s ribs were not in good shape. 

A hush had fallen over the crowd and many people were starting to head out of the stadium. Some of the cops were directing traffic to make sure that things didn’t get too wild. The people that were staying looked horrified, like they couldn’t believe it was happening. The majority of Derek’s co-workers were gone, but Isaac and Scott remained frozen in place. 

Of course Derek knew why Isaac was there, but it suddenly clicked why Scott had stayed. Scott probably knew that Stiles was Red Spark and was staying just in case anything happened to his best friend. Not that Scott would be able to do anything to Deucalion if he wanted to, but Derek knew his heart was in the right place. 

Stiles was glowing with energy and nervous anticipation and kept sneaking looks at Derek as if waiting for the okay to go in and rescue Jackson.

“Not yet,” Derek muttered. “Just a little bit longer.” 

“You’re sure you don’t want help?” Deucalion asked, kneeling down next to Jackson’s face. “I don’t think you can do too much else. You want to tap out and let the real heroes do the work.” 

“Herrrrr,” Jackson groaned. 

“What was that?” 

“Help.” Jackson said weakly. “Help me.” 

“You heard him,” Derek growled, eyes flashing. “Go.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi.... 
> 
> I'm so sorry that this is so late. Finals happened and this chapter was soooo so so hard to write. So I'm sorry about that. Thank you to everyone who expressed concern and stayed with this fic. I don't anticipate it taking another month to wrap this up. 
> 
> Special thanks to apocryphal for being such a great help. This chapter wouldn't be anywhere as near as good as it was without her help.

Derek felt his claws lengthen as he leapt onto the stadium field. Next to him, he saw that Stiles’ body was glowing with magic, fists clenched in anticipation.

Stiles _looked_ pretty confident, but Derek could hear the way his heart was hammering away in his chest; he was nervous. Not that Derek could blame him—he was incredibly nervous himself. And the way that Deucalion had so easily handled Jackson certainly wasn’t helping his mindset. He knew logically that he and Stiles had the advantage; it was two-on-one, and the last time they had fought, Stiles’ magical golems had been more than enough to finish the job. But Derek couldn’t shake the feeling that since that fight Deucalion had come up with some more tricks up his sleeve, and that made Derek extremely wary. 

Across from them, Deucalion still had the sadistic smirk on his face and was looking at both of them hungrily.

“Well that was certainly a lackluster warm-up,” he said, tossing Jackson aside. “I really can’t believe that he _actually_ thought he had a chance of taking me out. That was laughable.”

“Well he’s not the brightest crayon in the box, that’s for sure,” Stiles shot back. “I know his name is Gold Standard, but he probably should be called Grayscale or something underwhelming like that.” 

As Deucalion tilted his head back and laughed, Derek marveled at the way Stiles was able to be witty and sarcastic despite being incredibly nervous. To anyone else, it would sound like an ordinary comment, but Derek could hear the slight strain in Stiles’ voice, and the rapid beating of his heart.

Deucalion was still laughing so Derek took the opportunity to take a quick glance around the stadium. Most of the crowd had fled, leaving only a couple people scattered here and there. The Sheriff and his men had done a really good job with crowd control, Derek had barely noticed them leaving. As Derek scanned the remainder of the people in the stadium, he briefly locked eyes with Isaac, who had moved to the front row with Scott. 

Isaac looked like he was more scared for Derek’s life than Derek was, and his heartbeat was even faster than Stiles’.

Derek offered him a small, what he hoped was reassuring smile and then turned back to Deucalion.

“That was a good one,” Deucalion said, once he had re-composed himself. “I wonder if sarcasm is one of your superpowers. I wouldn’t mind being able to crack jokes like that.” 

“Too bad you’ll never find out,” Stiles replied, eyes glowing. “Because you’re not stealing my powers at all.” 

“We’ll see about that,” Deucalion said threateningly, and out of the corner of his eyes, Derek saw Stiles take a small step back. 

Deucalion smirked again and quickly lunged at the two of them. Derek braced himself for attack but he quickly realized that Deucalion was aiming for Stiles and not him.

But Stiles seemed paralyzed.

Derek snarled and tackled Deucalion mid-air before he could get to Stiles. He clawed at Deucalion’s torso and hurled him into the goal post furthest from both of them. The sheer force of Derek’s throw caused Deucalion to break through the goal post.

Derek didn’t know much about anatomy, but he was pretty sure that after an impact like that, some part of Deucalion had to be broken, and even with advanced healing he would be down just long enough for Derek to talk some sense into Stiles.

“Were you going to move?” he snarled in Stiles’ direction. “Or were you just going to let him get to you?” 

“I… I’m sorry,” Stiles stammered, heartbeat thundering in Derek’s ears. “I freaked out. I… I’m good.”

“You better be,” Derek growled, glancing over his shoulder as Deucalion struggled to get the goal post off of him. “I can’t do this on my own. I need you, Spark.”

That seemed to do the trick. Stiles closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again they were glowing with a brilliant, determined orange hue. 

“I’m ready.” 

“Perfect,” Deucalion said, as he walked back over to them. “Because I think Black Wolf just broke my spine.” He stopped a couple yards away from them and cracked his back for emphasis. “I’ll be sure to send that one hero who had the super healing a thank you card. What was her name again? Cat-lady?”

“Her name was _Catwoman_ ,” Stiles said, glaring. “And you’re going to pay for what you did to her.”

Derek barely had time to react before Stiles sent three blasts of fire streaking Deucalion’s way. Evidently, Deucalion wasn’t expecting it either as he dodged the first two, but the third one slammed into his chest. 

Seizing his opportunity, Derek raked his claws across Deucalion’s already burned torso. He didn’t want Deucalion be able to mount any kind of offense. Derek had been on the receiving end of several Deucalion punches, and he would really rather never experience those feelings again. 

Derek and Stiles kept up their relentless barrage of attacks, and if he was honest Derek was surprised at how coherently they were fighting together. Deucalion seemed to be reeling the entire time. Derek would rush him with claws and fangs, then would spring back and allow Stiles to fry, burn or crush Deucalion with whatever element of magic he chose.

But as well as the fight seemed to be going; it never really felt like they were making any real headway. It just didn’t seem like Deucalion was taking that much damage. Especially since he kept making sarcastic little quips every time he was attacked. 

“Well, this is certainly much more exciting than last time,” he grunted after Stiles had just shocked him with a bolt of lightning. “Have you guys been hitting the gym or something? Training a little extra, perhaps?”

“Shut _up!_ ” Derek growled, raking his claws back across Deucalion’s chest. He let out a frustrated growl when his claw marks healed almost immediately. Even _he_ didn’t heal that fast. “What are you?” 

“Ah, ah,” Deucalion said, wagging a finger. “A magician never reveals his secrets.” 

“He’s been cursed,” Stiles said, landing next to Derek. His hands were still crackling with electricity and he leveled Deucalion with a withering glare. “Haven’t you?” 

“I’m surprised it took you this long to figure it out,” Deucalion said, smirking. “After taking all your attacks, I should be dead by now.”

“I thought curses were a bad thing." 

“Not necessarily,” Stiles answered, still glaring at Deucalion. “A curse is another name for a spell cast with black magic. But if the subject has practiced black magic before then the negative effects can be diluted. But if we don’t finish this quickly he’s going to be more insane than he already is—it’s a side effect of black magic.”

“Precisely,” Deucalion answered, still smirking. 

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Stiles said, brow furrowing in confusion. “A curse this strong—there’s only a couple people on the planet who can cast it. And I know for a fact that almost all of them wouldn’t use their powers to cast a spell on you.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I can just take their powers for myself then, isn’t it?” Deucalion answered, cocking his head.

“Wait a minute,” Stiles said. “If you could always cast black magic on yourself, why—”

“Why didn’t I do it in the cemetery?” Deucalion finished. “I know, I’m kicking myself for it too. To be honest, I’ve never needed to use it. As you said, the side effects are pretty horrendous, and none of the heroes I’ve absorbed have put up enough of a fight for me to use it.” 

“You forgot you had it,” Derek growled.

“Rookie mistake, I know,” Deucalion said with a shrug. “It’s almost disgraceful. I’m so disappointed with myself. But since I _am_ cursed, I can kill you both and take your powers. And I think I’m going to make this a little more fun for myself. I always was fond of role-playing.”

“What are you—” Stiles started, but stopped as he saw Deucalion start to shape shift. 

A chill ran down Derek’s spine as he recognized the voice.

“The Silver Huntress,” Stiles breathed.

“Hello, Black Wolf,” Deucalion said, in Kate’s voice. “Long time no see.”

Derek’s breath caught in his chest and he felt _all_ of the fight go out of him. “You’re not really here,” he whispered. “You _can’t_ be here.”  

“Of course she’s not,” Deucalion said, rolling his eyes and twitching slightly. “She’s still in prison, but I couldn’t resist seeing the look on your face.”

“He’s losing his grip on reality. The curse might be affecting his mind. He might even think that he’s the Silver Huntress,” Stiles muttered. “We need to finish this soon, before the magic corrupts him even more." 

“What’s the matter, Black Wolf?” Deucalion asked, smirking and twitching again. A black aura started to appear around his hand and Derek eyed it warily. “ You don’t look very excited to see me. I killed your pack remember? Remember? The mighty Hale Pack?” 

Deucalion raised his hand and pointed his finger at Derek, who stared back. He felt broken. Even though logically he knew that Kate wasn’t really there, Derek still felt rooted to the spot. Deucalion was every bit as intimidating as he remembered Kate being. She had murdered his entire family. His mother, father, both his sisters and his uncle had met their end at her hand. And all of them had been better werewolves than Derek would ever be. If they hadn’t been able to beat Kate, then Derek had no hope either.

The ground started rumbling and Derek closed his eyes, bracing for the kill shot, but was surprised when he didn’t feel anything. If anything the ground was shaking more, and Derek thought that Deucalion had created an earthquake of some sort until he cracked one eye open and saw that he was surrounded by earth golems, which were protecting him from Deucalion’s curse. 

Unless the curse was for him to be shaken violently for the rest of his life.

“Derek. _Derek!_ ” 

It took Derek a couple seconds to realize that Stiles had both hands on his shoulders and was the one shaking him furiously.

“Derek, if you check out on me right now, I swear on my life I will kill you myself.” 

“I can’t do it,” Derek muttered, taking a couple small steps back and leaning against the wall of golems. “I can’t—I—she killed my—no. I can’t..” 

“Derek, look at me,” Stiles said, jerking Derek’s head to look him in the eyes. “You are one of the bravest people I have ever met, and I know you’re scared right now. But you can’t give up, okay? Kate’s not really here. Beacon Hills needs you. Isaac needs you. _I_ need you, okay?” 

“Stiles…” 

“Yeah, it’s me, buddy,” Stiles said, cupping Derek’s face in his hands. “And when this is over you and I are going to have a _long_ talk about this whole secret identity thing because I feel like you’ve known longer than me. But right now I _really_ need you to snap out of it. I don’t know how much longer this shield is going to hold up.” 

Derek looked up and saw that the wall of golems was starting to crack under the force of Deucalion’s spell. He could just make out Deucalion’s voice from beyond the wall. 

“You can’t hide in there forever, Black Wolf!” 

Derek closed his eyes and took a deep breath to compose himself. “I can do this,” he said quietly.

“I know you can,” Stiles said. “And I know that know is definitely not the best time for this, but I believe in you,” he added, pressing a soft and gentle kiss to Derek’s mouth. 

Derek instantly flashed back to the time at High Point when he and Stiles had kissed for the first time. The fireworks immediately returned to his head and he suddenly felt better, boosted by the belief and support of Stiles.

A smug look appeared on Stiles’ face. “I guess my kisses _are_ magic.” 

Derek rolled his eyes and stepped in front of Stiles, facing the crumbling wall. He narrowed his eyes and lengthened his claws.

“Let me at him,” he growled.

“That’s my boy,” Stiles said. His eyes glowed amber and the wall of golems split apart and stood menacingly in between them and Deucalion. 

“Perfect,” Stiles said, grinning. “You hit him high and I’ll hit low?” 

Derek snarled in response and leapt at Deucalion, claws outstretched. He was vaguely aware that Stiles and his golems were behind him, but all of his attention was focused on Deucalion.

It helped a little bit that Deucalion still looked like Kate. It was therapeutic in a twisted sort of way. Derek had spent so long suppressing the hurt and demons that had come with the Hale fire, that there was some sort of retribution in clawing Deucalion’s chest.

If he couldn’t claw Kate, he supposed clawing a Deucalion that looked like Kate was the next best thing.

As Derek and Stiles continued their attack on Deucalion, Derek began to realize that he was starting to switch between his own form and Kate’s.

“He’s losing his grip on the spell,” Stiles muttered, firing a bolt of lightning right at Deucalion. “Things could get a little tricky. I might have to—”

“Less talking more hitting,” Derek growled, grabbing Deucalion’s waist and tossing him halfway across the field. Deucalion tried staggering to his feet but collapsed to the ground. 

Derek roared in triumph and dashed to make sure Deucalion was down for the count but was surprised to find that a wall of golems stood in his way.

“What are you doing?” Derek asked, whirling around to face Stiles.

“Derek, listen to me,” Stiles said. “Remember how I said that there were always negative effects of curses?" 

Derek nodded, but he didn’t really understand _why_ Stiles was telling him this. He’d already gotten his crash course in curses, he didn’t understand why Stiles was choosing _now_ to give him a review lesson, especially when Deucalion was lying forty yards away, just waiting to be apprehended once and for all.

“Look at him,” Stiles said, pointing to Deucalion. Derek peered past the golems and saw that even though Deucalion was lying almost motionless on the ground, his body was still shifting between his own form and Kate’s. Every now and then he would twitch and a surge of black magic would course through his body, but other than that he looked down for the count.

“The curse put a huge strain on his body,” Stiles explained. “So if you keep pummeling him like you do, then the magic might get forced out all at once and that won’t be pretty.”

“You’re lying,” Derek growled. “There’s no way he’s going to explode. Let’s just finish the job.”

“Derek, _stop!_ ” Stiles said, blocking Derek’s path. “It’s too dangerous for you to touch him right now. If you touch him and he blows up, I don’t know if you’ll survive the explosion even with your healing factor. And there’s no way I’m giving up having superhero sex with you when I haven’t even had it yet.”

“So what’s are we supposed to do?” Derek growled. “Just let him lay there?”

“I… I think I can drain the excess dark magic. It’s dangerous, but I think I have a pretty good shot at it,” Stiles said, frowning and looking at his hands. “At least that way we’ll be able to apprehend him without anything bad happening.”

“What, no! Stiles, I can’t let you do that,” Derek said, grabbing Stiles’ shoulders. “There has to be another way.”

“There probably is, but we really don’t have a choice right now, do we?” Stiles said grimly. “The more time we spend arguing, the longer Deucalion has to catch his breath and then we’re right back to where we started and I’d really rather not do this all night.”

Derek was silent for a few moments. All he wanted was for this whole Deucalion situation to be over, but he didn’t want Stiles to put his life in danger. He knew that it was part of being a hero, but Derek hadn’t had any time to date Stiles now that they both knew each other’s secret. He knew he was being selfish, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care.

“Derek, I’ll be fine,” Stiles said softly, gripping Derek’s hands. He pressed a kiss to Derek’s knuckles and gave him a reassuring smile. “Trust me. Everything’s going to be fine.”

Derek made a small noise of protest as Stiles let go of his hands and started to make his way over towards Deucalion.

“Stiles, I—I…”

“I know, big guy,” Stiles said, smiling. “I know.” 

Stiles landed right in front of Deucalion and traced a circle in the ground before taking a deep breath and muttering some words that Derek could barely make out even with his enhanced hearing.

As the circle and Stiles started to glow a brilliant white, Derek felt a body press up against his side. He flinched and turned to see Isaac and Scott standing nervously behind him with the Sheriff lingering behind.

“What’s he doing?” Isaac murmured. He reached for Derek’s hand and gripped it tightly. 

“I don’t know,” Derek said. “But I hope it works.”

They all turned their attention back to Stiles, who was slowly siphoning Deucalion’s power and channeling it into the magic circle. A line of dark magic was tracing from Deucalion and into Stiles as he drained the magic. Stiles had a look of intense concentration on his face and a thin sheen of sweat was breaking out on his forehead.

“What’s going on out there, Wolf?” the Sheriff asked. “Or should I say Derek Hale?”

“Sheriff, I…” 

“Relax, Derek, Scott and Isaac told me everything,” the Sheriff said. 

Derek turned his gaze to Isaac, who whined and hung his head. “More like he called us out,” he said quietly. “He’s too smart for his own good.”

“It wasn’t hard to figure out considering how they were the only two left in the stadium,” the Sheriff said rolling his eyes. “Still, I suppose I should thank you for looking out for my son both in and out of costume,” the Sheriff said, extending his hand. “Call me John.” 

Derek shook John’s hand, wilting a little bit under John’s intense gaze. “I wanted to—”

“We’ll talk about this later,” John said, shaking his head. “Right now we need to focus on making sure this whole thing gets resolved.”

Derek nodded and turned his attention back to Stiles and Deucalion. Stiles was still siphoning power, but now instead of white, the circle was black with the magic that was coming out of Deucalion. 

“Is that supposed to happening?” Scott murmured. 

“Stay here,” Derek growled before sprinting over to Stiles. He was about to break the barrier when Stiles’ voice stopped him. 

“Stay back!” Stiles cried. He had a pained expression on his face and was covered in sweat. “I—there’s too much dark magic. I can’t take all of it out.” 

“What can I—”

A large explosion went off and Derek watched as Stiles’ body hurtled through the air. He landed about twenty yards away and didn’t move. 

“Stiles!” 

Derek turned and started to make his way over to Stiles when a voice stopped him dead in his tracks. 

“Well I think that about does it for him,” Deucalion chuckled, standing up and dusting himself off. The sadistic smirk flickered across his face as he looked Derek up and down. “Mouthy little hero, wasn’t he?” 

Stiles tried struggling to a kneeling position, but was too weak and collapsed to the ground. Scott and John quickly rushed to his side, but Derek could hear Stiles’ heartbeat and it was getting fainter and fainter.

“Der…”

Derek had never felt more weak than when Stiles’ body was lying on the ground. It felt like someone had taken all of the air out of his lungs as he looked on helplessly while the Sheriff dialed for an ambulance and Scott tried make sure Stiles was okay. This wasn’t supposed to happen. They were supposed to take care of Deucalion and save the day.

He was a good guy. The good guys always won, that’s how it always happened. Superman always won. Iron man always won. Batman always won, and he made it look _easy._

He and Stiles were supposed to win, too. 

“Well, that was a little bit messier than I anticipated,” Deucalion said, turning to Derek. “I suppose you’re wondering how it happened. But long story short I had Stiles drain the excess black magic and I just waited for Catwoman’s healing factor to kick in. And I knew that neither one of you would think of that. So Red Spark got his, and now it’s your turn. Just like in the cemetery, except I don’t think Red Spark is going to be able to come to your rescue this time,” he added, smirking viciously, casting a disdainful glance back at Stiles. 

Derek lost it. Something snapped in his head and suddenly nothing else mattered other than avenging Stiles. He roared and sprung at Deucalion, whose eyes widened in shock. Derek didn’t even know where he was aiming, all he knew that he wanted to take Deucalion down, permanently. This was the monster who had dared attack his family, his friends, his _mate._  

“You’re a wolf,” Deucalion gasped, moments before Derek tackled him to the ground.

Derek thought he had been angry the first time he’d attacked Deucalion, but now all he could see was red. He was full of white-hot anger and right now all he cared about was inflicting as much pain as possible. He was clawing and snapping at every part of Deucalion he could reach. His own heartbeat was pounding in his head and he was running on pure adrenaline and rage. Everything felt amplified. His claws felt longer, his jaws felt sharper, and he felt more powerful, more _feral._

Deucalion seemed to be struggling, but Derek continued to claw and bite until he stopped moving. He howled in triumph and was seconds away from ripping Deucalion’s throat out, when a small whimper broke him out of his frenzy. 

Derek whirled his head around and saw Scott, the Sheriff and Isaac had surrounded Stiles and looked like they were trying to stop the bleeding. Scott had his hands pressed down on Stiles’ stomach, and logically Derek knew that he was trying to help, but all he could sense was Stiles’ pain.

Derek snarled and bounded over to Scott and bared his fangs in his face.

“Derek… I’m trying to help him,” Scott stammered, shifting nervously. Derek could smell the fear and nervousness leaking off of him in _waves_. “You can put your fangs away now, please.”

Derek snarled again, demanding Scott would get the message to _back off_ , but was surprised when he felt a hand on his snout and a somewhat comforting scent filled his nose.

“It’s okay, Derek. It’s over,” Isaac said softly. “The paramedics are on their way. Stiles is going to be okay. I _promise_.”

Derek whined low in his throat, but allowed Isaac to gently guide him to a lying position, nestling his head in Isaac’s lap.

“I’m _so_ proud of you, Derek,” Isaac continued, running his hands along Derek’s fur. “You saved all of us. And you _shifted!_ I didn’t know you could do that.”

Derek hadn’t known he could do it either. He didn’t even know _how_ he did it. 

“Get some rest,” Isaac said soothingly. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

Those were the last words Derek heard before he passed out.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think it's my best work, but I'm very happy to finally be done with this. :)

Derek’s whole body hurt. Specifically, it felt like someone had ran over him with an eighteen-wheeler, backed up, and ran over him again. 

He was vaguely aware that he was lying on his back in a hospital bed. His own bed was much more comfortable and didn’t smell like medicine and sickness. Derek also smelled something vaguely familiar, but he was too out of it to pinpoint what it was. He kept his eyes closed, because he was pretty sure that the inevitable bright lights of the hospital room would blind his sensitive eyes.

Derek let out a small huff, and started to relax. If he was in the hospital, that meant that he was safe, and whatever he had been fighting had probably been taken care of. But what had he been fighting? As he started to come to his senses, all of the vivid details of the fight against Deucalion rushed back to the forefront of his thoughts.

Stiles had been hurt, and Deucalion had been laughing, and he had been _so angry,_ but had felt _so helpless_. And then—he had shifted. He didn’t really remember how or why, but apparently it had happened. But was Stiles okay? Had they been able to save him?

“Urgghh….”

“Derek, are you awake?”

“’saac?” Derek asked, cracking an eye open, before instantly scrunching it back shut. The hospital lights were definitely blinding.

“Oh, thank God, Derek,” Isaac breathed, wheeling over to sit closer to Derek’s bedside. Derek breathed in deeply as Isaac’s scent filled his nose. It was the same scent that he’d smelled earlier, and based on how strong it was, Isaac hadn’t left the hospital room. “You’re okay. Fuck, you’re okay.”

“Wha ‘bout Stiles?” Derek croaked.

“He’s fine, too,” Isaac said. “He’s in another room, but he’s stabilizing. Melissa’s been working on him almost nonstop since the fight.”

“How long… was I out? ”

“About five hours or so,” Isaac answered. “The paramedics brought you and Stiles here right after the fight. Me, Scott and the Sheriff have been here ever since.”

“Deucalion?” 

“Taken care of,” Isaac said. “Apparently one of Jackson’s agents had some contacts with the Justice League, and they came and apprehended him as soon as you took him out. Do you remember any of that by the way? You were a little, um…”

“Wolf,” Derek muttered. 

“Yeah, how did you do that?” Isaac asked. “I’ve never seen you do that before, and I’ve known you all my life.”

“Dunno. Had to protect Stiles,” Derek answered. “Where…?”

“He’s in the room across the hall,” Isaac said.

“Kay.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can’t go over there yet,” Isaac said, gently pushing Derek back down to a reclining position. Derek glared at him, and Isaac cowvered for a split second before shaking his head and squaring his shoulders. “Melissa said to make sure that you stayed in bed until she could come check you out while you were conscious.”

“’m fine,” Derek mumbled, struggling against Isaac’s hands. “Werewolf.”

“Yeah, I know, but you can barely make complete sentences,” Isaac snorted fondly. “I almost lost you today, Derek. Just…let Melissa take check you out before you do anything stupid, okay? I’m gonna go get her.”

Derek rolled his eyes and nodded as Isaac left the room. He loved Isaac, but he could be a little too over-bearing at times. Derek knew where he was coming from, but most of the time he felt fine. He could probably walk right out of the hospital room right now if he wanted.

“Don’t even think about leaving, Sourwolf,” Stiles said, walking into the office, followed by Melissa and Isaac. “We have too much to talk about for you to be leaving now.”

“I wasn’t… I was gonna…”

“Stiles, I told you to take it slow,” Melissa groaned, as Stiles hopped onto a chair.

“I’m _fine_ ,” Stiles said. “What part of superhero healing did you not understand?”

Derek shot Isaac a pointed look and Isaac hung his head in response. 

“Do what you want then,” Melissa said, shaking her head fondly. “But don’t come running to me when you hurt yourself again.”

“Don’t act like you don’t love it,” Stiles said, smirking.

“I’m not going to answer that,” Melissa said. “I’ll give you two some time. I’m sure you have _lots_ to talk about. Isaac?”

Isaac looked reluctantly at Derek, as if leaving his side was the _last_ thing he wanted to do.

“I’ll be _fine,_ Isaac. I feel better already,” Derek said honestly, trying to reassure Isaac. “Go find Scott or something.” 

Isaac sighed and nodded before following Melissa out of the room, leaving Derek and Stiles face to face. 

“So… how are you doing?” Derek began awkwardly. He didn’t really know what to say. This was the first time that he and Stiles were having a conversation now that they both knew that they were superheroes and their lives weren’t in danger. It was a little daunting, to be honest. 

“Good,” Stiles said, eyes twinkling. “How are you?”

“Good…, better now,” Derek answered, nodding slightly. “I’m a little sore, but nothing a couple of days off won’t fix.”

“You really think Deaton will give us some time off?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I didn’t mean… I… Maybe?” Derek sputtered. “I was talking about—”

“I know, I know,” Stiles chuckled. “I was just giving you a hard time. I can’t imagine how much fun Melissa must have had messing with us when we both didn’t know about each other.”

“Yeah,” Derek said, smiling wrylying and thinking about all the things Melissa said that might’ve had a double meaning. “So you’re a superhero.”

“I am,” Stiles said, inclining his head. “Red Spark. That’s me. It’s a pleasure to finally see you without your wolf face on, Black Wolf. You’re every bit as handsome as I had hoped.”

“I…really?” Derek asked, fidgeting so he was in a seated position. “But you see me, or my regular face every day.”

“True,” Stiles said, climbing over to sit at the foot of Derek’s bed. Derek criss-crossed his legs to give him some more room, and looked at Stiles expectantly. “I always thought that regular you was very handsome. I just never thought that you would be okay with me being a superhero. And so I thought…" 

“That if you kept telling stories about ‘me’ to me, then I would lose interest in you,” Derek answered, biting the inside of his cheek. “That way you wouldn’t have to tell me yourself.”

“You got it,” Stiles said, smiling sadly. “And what sucks is I didn’t even know who I wanted to date more. I mean, you were so mysteriously hot as Black Wolf, but you were so regularly hot as Derek too.” 

“Well at first I thought that Red Spark was annoying,” Derek said, smirking when Stiles’ mouth dropped open. “Don’t make that face. You know you were annoying.”

“I got the job done, didn’t I?” Stiles muttered, frowning and breaking eye contact.

“Yeah, you did,” Derek said, suddenly hating how hurt Stiles’ voice sounded. He wriggled out from under the blankets to get closer to Stiles. His whole body groaned with soreness as he situated himself across from Stiles, but he could worry about that later. Right now he needed to get everything out in the open and he couldn’t do that under a blanket. “And I respected you immensely. I was just _smitten_ with the other you.”

“You… really?” Stiles asked, looking up cautiously.

“Yes. I was,” Derek said. “And as much as it sucked listening you tell me stories about your hot guy friend, who was now I know was me, I couldn’t get you out of my head.”

“This situation is so fucking complicated,” Stiles laughed bitterly, tracing patterns in the blanket. “I was such an asshole to you.”

“Black Wolf wasn’t the nicest guy either, Stiles,” Derek pointed out.

“No, I know,” Stiles said. “But it was more of a tough love. I never felt like you didn’t like me, even when I did mess around too much.”

“I always knew how great of a hero you were,” Derek said softly. “And it frustrated me that you would always goof off. But when things got serious, so did you. You saved my life, remember?”

“Yeah, and then I forced you to go out on a date with me, and look how well that turned out.”

“I thought it was a pretty good kiss,” Derek said, smirking.

“It was a _great_ kiss!” Stiles said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “And then it complicated things even more! Because I didn’t know which one of you I wanted to date!” 

“It confused me too,” Derek agreed. “But we don’t _have_ to choose, Stiles. That’s what’s great about this whole thing. You get all of me. And I get all of you.” He placed a tentative hand on Stiles knee. “What are you so afraid of?”

“I just feel bad,” Stiles said. “I feel like I treated you like crap, and I don’t know why you would want to even date anyone like me.” 

“I want to date you because you’re smart, beautiful and you make me laugh,” Derek said softly. “I want to date you because you’ve saved my life, and I spent weeks wondering what I would do if I had to pick between you and ‘you’. But now that I know everything, I want to explore even more.”

“That should not have been that romantic,” Stiles sniffed, rolling his eyes. “Where did you learn to sweet talk like that?”

“Werewolf?” Derek tried. He wasn’t really sure where all of that had come from either. 

“Maybe,” Stiles said. “Did you really mean all of it though?” 

“Every word.” 

“Thanks,” Stiles said, a light blush appearing on his cheeks. “I never thought I’d meet a guy who would accept both parts of me. And now I have one right in front of me, and he’s everything I wanted in a guy too.” 

Derek absolutely did not preen at the praise. 

“And I don’t think Scott, Melissa, or my dad would let me live it down if I didn’t date you so hard,” Stiles said, moving closer to Derek. “They’ve had to listen to me ramble about how hot you were since we started working together. In the office and on the streets.”

“Working the streets makes it sound like we’re hookers,” Derek snorted, taking Stiles’ hands in his own.

“We hook the bad guys into jail,” Stiles joked softly, resting his forehead against Derek’s.

“That was one of the worst things I’ve ever heard,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. Stiles chuckled quietly, and Derek bristled feeling Stiles’ warm breath against his lips.

“You can hook me.”

“You’re really going to try and turn it into an innuendo,” Derek asked, bringing one hand to cup Stiles’ face. “I can’t believe I ever wanted to date you.” 

“But you still want to anyway,” Stiles said. “Because I’m smart, beautiful and I make you laugh.”

“And you saved my life,” Derek said, rolling his eyes.

“I’m going to kiss you now.” 

“I’m going to kiss you back.”

***

“You two _had_ to make out in the hospital bed?” Scott asked as they were driving home. “I mean I get that you two are happy you finally worked your issues out, but really? Someone’s probably died in that bed, Stiles.” 

“Okay, that’s disgusting,” Stiles said. “And some lady has probably given birth in that bed too, so it balances out. Hey, why are there so many cameras and news vans outside of our…”

“Oh yeah,” Scott said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Derek _might’ve_ shifted back into a human when he passed out, and your mask _might’ve_ slipped off when you got knocked unconscious and…”

“Jackson’s fucking paparazzi caught it all on camera,” Stiles said. “Well at least I know that Derek’s probably going through the same thing. And you know how much he hates crowds of people. He leaves the office parties early because he gets uncomfortable.”

“Oh yeah,” Scott said, grinning in remembrance. “Man, we could’ve watched him growl at all the reporters. Why did you guys have to go home separately again?”

“Because your mom thinks that Derek and I can’t control our sexual urges and wants us to rest properly before we have superhero sex for the first time,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “Like I can’t keep my hands to myself.”

“You had your hands underneath Derek’s hospital gown,” Scott pointed out. “And that was an hour ago.”

“Point,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes as they parked. “Are you ready to meet my adoring fans?”

“I wonder if I can move out so I don’t have to deal with all the publicity of living with a superhero,” Scott asked, eyeing the mass of reporters warily. “This looks scary.”

“Tough luck, dude,” Stiles said. “You signed up for this. And look at the bright side. You’ll never have to ask for an autograph.” 

***

“Is this your favorite rooftop or something? I swear you’re always perched up here.” 

“Hey, Spark,” Derek said, watching Stiles float in front of him. “What are you doing here? I’m on patrol tonight, you have the night off.”

“Yeah, well I got bored at home and I thought I’d come talk to my superhero boyfriend,” Stiles said. “Besides it’s not like anything’s going to happen. Crime rates have plummeted since we got rid of Deucalion and our identities were revealed to the public. It’s like all the bad guys just ran away and left. It’s kind of boring.”

“I’ll remember that when the next super villain comes to town,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “And it’s only been a week since everything happened. Give it some time. There’ll probably be a new villain wanted to prove himself and take us down. Personally, I’m still adjusting to everyone clapping at work every time they see me.” 

“They’re just so awestruck to be in the presence of a superhero,” Stiles joked, pressing a kiss to Derek’s forehead. “I know I am.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Derek snorted fondly.

“I know, and you’re still with me anyway,” Stiles said. “Speaking of work, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“Shoot.”

“So there’s this thing at work and it’s sort of a black tie affair,” Stiles started, and Derek’s heart clenched. He’d forgotten all about the gala. “And I was gonna go with my hot guy friend, but I think he finally settled down and got a boyfriend, so now I have no one to go with.”

“That’s a shame,” Derek said, shaking his head. “What are you going to do?”

“Well I was hoping that you would be my date,” Stiles said, biting his lip in the way that he knew would drove Derek crazy. “Unless you had someone else in mind.”

“Well I was gonna ask my co-worker,” Derek said slyly. “You know, the cute one I’ve been telling you about? We finally got our shit straightened out. But maybe if I call him and ask nicely, he’ll let you take me if you promise to treat me right.”

“I promise.” Stiles smirked.

Derek pulled out his phone and dialed Stiles’ number, chuckling at the way Stiles rolled his eyes and answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, babe,” Derek said, making his voice as silky sweet as possible. Stiles simply smiled and rolled his eyes. “I have something to ask you.”

“Oh, _whatever_ could it be?” Stiles asked. 

“Remember that hooker I work with, Red Spark?” Derek asked, flashing Stiles a broad smile at their new inside joke. “He kind wants to take me to a company dinner or something. I told him I’d go as long as he treated me nice and you were okay with it.” 

“Well I normally don’t like sharing you, Derek,” Stiles said. “But I’ve heard good things about this Red Spark fellow, but if he’s good to you, I’m okay with it. Just as long as you know whose bed you belong in. And tell this Red Spark guy, too. I don’t want him to get any ideas.” 

“Like you’d ever let me forget,” Derek said. “Thanks, Stiles. I’ll let him know.” He grinned as he hung up the phone.

“So, what did your boyfriend say?” Stiles asked, eyes twinkling. “Can I take you to the gala?”

“Yes, but he wanted me to tell you not to get any ideas because I belong in his bed,” Derek said.

“How generous of him,” Stiles deadpanned, sitting next to Derek and resting his head on Derek’s shoulder.

“Yeah, he’s pretty great,” Derek said, wrapping an arm around Stiles, pulling him close.

“Do you think your boyfriend will be mad if I don’t return you?” Stiles asked.

Derek laughed into the night. 

***

“Stiles Stilinksi and Derek Hale. It’s an honor to meet you two. I’m Patrick Anderson. I work in the LA branch. Do you think I could get a picture?”

“Of course,” Derek said, smiling as Patrick pulled out his cell phone and snapped a selfie. “Nice meeting you,” he added as Patrick thanked them and walked away. “This was a terrible idea.”

“Aw, wish you were here with your boyfriend?” Stiles joked, poking his lip out. “Am I not good enough for you?”

“I hate you sometimes,” Derek said, pulling Stiles close and clasping his hands around Stiles’ waist. “But no. You’re fine too,” he said, kissing Stiles gently. “I just never thought it would be so hard to live as Derek and as Black Wolf.” 

“Tony Stark does it.” 

“Tony Stark is also a billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist,” Derek said. “I design commercials.”

“And you save lives and you’re dating the hottest superhero in Beacon Hills,” Stiles said.

“Yeah, my boyfriend is pretty hot,” Derek said, chuckling when Stiles swatted his arm.

“No more of that,” Stiles frowned. “ _I_ am dating you. Me. Stiles Stilinski.”

“What about Red Spark?”

“That’s me,” Stiles said.

“ _What?”_ Derek said, recoiling in mock shock. “You’ve been leading a double life?”

“I hate you, I hate you, I—mmph,” Stiles was cut off as Derek crushed their lips together.

“Okay,” Derek said, smirking when they pulled apart. “You’re mine and I’m yours. Superhero identities and all.”

“Don’t you forget it either, Wolfman,” Stiles said, narrowing his eyes. 

“Um, Mr. Hale and Mr. Stilinski? Could I get a picture?” 

Derek was about to answer when his phone went off, signaling a new text. It was from the Sheriff.

_Derek—_

_Argents are at it again. Need backup. Bring Stiles._

“Sorry,” Derek apologized. “Duty calls.” He grabbed Stiles’ hand and pulled him out of the ballroom.

“You know, Batman would’ve just vanished into the shadows,” Stiles said, tearing off his suit, revealing his costume underneath.

“Batman also makes everything superhero related look easy,” Derek pointed out.

“ _You’re_ easy.” Stiles shot back.

“You’re easier.” 

“You love it." 

“Yeah, I do.”


End file.
